


Resisting the Shadows

by orphan_account



Series: Shadows [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 15:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 49,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16537694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The First Installment of the Shadows Series.Escaping HYDRA has been the best thing that's happened to twenty-year-old Adeline "Eden" Cohen other than escaping her father.  Now, with nightmares terrorizing her during the night and men terrorizing her during the day, she has to slowly integrate herself into life with struggling with her other side.  The wolf.---Bucky has been trapped within the new Avenger's Base, unable to properly get out as he is shunned by nearly everyone in the building.  Tony Stark's got him on house arrest, afraid that the ex-assassin will hurt not only himself but another person while in recovery.  When Bucky finally convinces Stark to let him out, he rents out an apartment with a neighbor who he feels he has more in common with than even Steve.*Includes James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, slight gore, mature themes, and a wolf.





	1. Chapter 1

**The Torture of the Night**

Bucky lays on the cold mattress of his bed in his apartment in the new Avengers base. He stares up at the ceiling, eyes burning from lack of sleep. It's been hard to sleep properly, the night terrors there once he closes his eyes for more than ten seconds.

He blinks his eyes slowly, trying to rid himself of the burning sensations. He twists his head to look to his right at the digital clock on his nightstand. _3:07._ He sighs and stares at the nearly black ceiling.

He looks to his left out of the window that shows the forest outside. It's still and he can feel the cool air seeping through the small crack he left there. He breathes in a deep breath and slowly lets it exhale.

His mouth opens in a yawn that he doesn't care to cover. His blinking becomes slower and slower as his eyes stay closed for longer periods of time. His heart spikes as he sits up sharply, having felt himself begin to drift off.

Both of his hands clench tightly atop his covers, bunching up the fabric to let out some of his fear and frustration. He mutters under his breath mindlessly in Russian as he runs his hands over his face, the cold of his left hand biting into the warmth of his face and waking him up slightly.

He pushes the heavy blanket off him and sits on the edge of the bed, resting his elbows on his knees as he puts his face in his hands. Bucky proceeds to groan into his hands as exhaustion takes place of his small spike of adrenaline.

“'Need to fix this,” he says in a sharp rough voice, gripping the edge of the bed with both of his hands, glaring down at the floor in anger of himself. His shoulders slump as his face straightens out to an expression of exhaustion.

Bucky easily pushes himself off the bed and out of his bedroom. He doesn't mind the chill in the air that brushes over his bare shoulders softly as he pads through the living room and into the small kitchen.

He blinks a few times to adjust to the light coming out of his fridge as he grabs the water pitcher and a glass from his barren cupboards. The kitchen is bare of anything save for the small set of silverware and plates and bowls.

His fridge barely holds anything other than water and a few things like some lunch meat and vegetables that he orders and someone brings to him. He's not allowed outside.

He watches with bleary eyes as the clear water smoothly fills the glass. He places the pitcher back on the fridge shelf before drinking the full glass in three gulps. He shivers slightly as goosebumps travel across his arms.

“Cold,” he mutters softly, drying off the glass and placing it back in its appropriate cabinet.

He returns to his room and sits on the windowsill, staring out at the dark sky. Bucky knows that it's unhealthy, his insomnia. But he won't survive any other way. Once he's asleep, he's vulnerable to his own mind. To the horrors he's committed.

Steve keeps telling him that it wasn't him and that he didn't have a choice, but it _was_ him. It was _his hands_ that snapped necks, crushed windpipes, punched and choked people. It was _his body_ that shot people without the blink of an eye and held them down while they struggled in pain.

_It was all him._

He grips the windowsill as his hair hangs around his face, a shuddering breath leaving him. _It was all me,_ he thinks to himself. _I was the one to kill them. I was the one who drew blood. I was the one to_ murder them in cold blood.

His body trembles as blurry images of the people he's killed runs through his mind. He can hear the wood beneath his metal hand begin to cave on itself and crack as his grip tightens. His breathing is heavy and his eyes are clenched tight.

Bucky forces himself to think of something else. _Anything_ else. Immediately, all he thinks about is the locations of some HYDRA bases. He and Steve have been working on pinpointing HYDRA locations as people have been becoming missing and then showing up months later dead and with odd chemicals radiating from their bodies and running through their veins.

He thinks of the ones that he can clearly remember, and while it's one of the reasons as to why he can't sleep, it brings his mind from past hauntings. He goes over the longitude and latitudes of the three bases he clearly remembers, the information calming him further.

Steve will be leading a group of agents to the locations of the buildings, though he's too dangerous to go. Bucky knows that it's for his own good as he _knows_ that he'll most likely do something should he return to the places where he was constantly in pain.

He swallows and unclenches his hands, realizing that his right hand most likely doesn't have much blood flow at the moment. He unclenches and clenches his hand as he feels blood return to his hand.

He sighs in exhaustion as he drags himself to his bed. He crawls under the covers and stares up at the ceiling again. This time, his eyes keep closing, spending more time closed than open. He knows that he should force himself awake. He knows that he'll get another nightmare, though he's tired.

He's so extremely tired that he doesn't know how he's alive right now. _The serum, maybe?_ he thinks to himself, paying half mind that he is technically a super soldier. His breathing begins to slow as his vision begins to grow dark.

His eyes shut close.

 

There's screaming. So much screaming, though he doesn't know where it's coming from. All he feels is fear and random flashes of light and a pressure against his skull. He arches his back as pain fills him.

It's not actual physical pain, but it's pain and it's there. His throat feels raw, though he doesn't know why. The screams continue.

He can hear people talking through the screams, and while he knows the words are being spoken in Russian, he can't seem to understand what they're saying. Another shot of pain and the screams continue.

He feels like his body is being pinned down the same time he feels it thrashing around. The scream breaks and this is when he figures out that it's _him_ screaming. He screams out again in pain, clenching his hands around the sheets beneath him.

The hazy vision in his mind shifts to that of a white sky and frozen air. He's cold, though his body feels so hot. His right arm clenches the spot where his metal arm and flesh connect as phantom pain radiates through him.

He screams and screams and screams until he can't any longer. He opens his eyes and stares blankly at the ceiling, his own breath around him choking him.


	2. Chapter 2

**From the Realm of Dreams to Reality**

_Pain. Unbearable, burning pain. A snap and more pain. Another snap and a scream._  Her body convulses where it lays on the grassy ground, the memories affecting her in real life. Mindless words are muttered in the background, though she can't focus enough to understand it. All she feels is pain.

She chokes in a gasp as she feels her throat begin to close. It's not happening in real life, though it feels as if it is. Her back arches in the pain as the feeling of her spine becoming prominent through her skin and elongating rushes through her.

Her body thrashes around as pain fills all of her senses. She's not sure if it's happening in the realm of sleep or the real world, though. Both seem so similar at this point.

She feels so hot, the blood running through her veins burning her in the adrenaline. Her head is thrown back and her throat becomes sore in a rough shallow scream. Her hands scramble to find purchase on the green grass surrounding her, the realm of sleep fleeing from her.

She whimpers in pain as her shoulder dislocates itself and she knows that she's no longer just dreaming anymore.

This has been becoming more common lately. At least once a week she'd dream of her bones breaking and elongating, skin, muscle, tendons, and ligaments tearing, and blood flowing through her nose and mouth.

She'd then awake to find that she was actually doing it in real life. Her dreams causing her body to morph itself into the beast that HYDRA made her. She pushes herself over onto her knees as she feels her other shoulder begin to dislocate.

Her clawed fingers tremble as they run over the thin cloth covering her torso. She doesn't think of possibly being seen as she roughly pulls on the hem of her shirt, tearing it a bit in the process.

The thought of having to fix this again tomorrow doesn't pop into her mind as the cloth is thrown onto the grassy floor. Her aching teeth abuse her lower lip, causing it to bead blood as her body hunches over from her position on her knees, her spine popping in and out of place.

She roughly pulls on the button holding the top of her loose jeans together and pulls the pants off her legs and over her bare feet, practice causing the movement to be swift and fluent. She arches over, her toes and fingers digging into the dirt as she struggles to contain her screams.

The transformation from human to wolf and back is still as painful as ever, though it seems to be becoming more and more bearable after every transition. She's only shifted when these nightmares started other than her time with HYDRA when she was forced to do so.

She coughs as her muscles tremble, along with her rips fracturing. She doesn't pay mind to the blood that coats her tongue as her nose breaks and her jaw dislocates. She shakes her head as she begins to have trouble breathing, her chest caving in on itself.

She screams out as her abdomen pulls inwards as her legs and feet morph into that of an animals'. Fire crawls over her skin as dark blonde fur begins to sprout over her body, setting her skin on fire.

Claws sprout further from her fingers as her arms break and begin to morph themselves into a canine's front legs. She cries out softly as her ears morph and begin to move up her skull, her head lengthening into a muzzle as a tail sprouts from her tailbone.

She whines as her throat burns, unable to speak or sound like a human as her vocal cords morph into an animal's. Her teeth and gums ache as her teeth grow and become sharp. Her already unusual canines grow longer until they're barely covered by her lip.

She howls out in pain as her hips dislocate and her pelvis morphs. The newly shaped bones click into place and the fire that coursed through her body swiftly dies out, leaving a shivering, panting, trembling furry canine in its exit.

She collapses on the ground and onto her side beside her clothing and bag of items, her tongue lolling out as her eyes roll into the back of her head. She's not completely passed out, though she's exhausted and her muscles ache from the transition.

They had torn and healed themselves over when she shifted, though it leaves a nasty ache behind. The same thing goes for her skin and bones that now ache as well.

She whines slightly, unable to contain the feelings as all of her senses are suddenly assaulted. While her senses have improved due to HYDRA's experiments on her, it doesn't compare to what she can see, hear, and smell when she's fully animal.

It's as if the volume of a television that was originally on twenty percent has been turned up to a hundred. It's highly overwhelming and causes some pain to her sensitive nose and ears.

Her panting begins to reside as she stumbles onto her long legs, looking more like a maned wolf than an actual wolf. She stands on her legs and stares around her, huffing breaths leaving her sore throat.

She growls softly at the aching pain, though shakes out her long fur, appreciating the fact that she's no longer as cold as she was on the hard forest floor. Her eyes close as her flattened ears flicker about, catching the secret life hidden in the forest at night.

The ruffling of leaves, the hoots of owls, the chirping of crickets, and the little pitter-patter of nocturnal mammals. Her eyes blink open to reveal shining golden eyes that were once brown.

Her muzzle lifts up into the cool air before she's off, hidden in the shadows as she gets as far away from civilization as she can. She molds into the shadows, her mind on nothing else than  _'away'._


	3. Chapter 3

**A Change**

Bucky grunts as his hand slams on his alarm clock, silencing it. Sometime around five in the morning, he managed to drift off but now it's been only about two hours.

He rubs his hands over his face, groaning into them as he pushes himself off his bed. He rubs his eyes as he makes his way to his small bathroom out of habit more than actually needing to use it.

The bathroom steams up as he turns the shower on, tugging off his boxers and sweats as the water immediately turns hot. He's more appreciative of the hot water than anyone else on the team is, having lived without it for so long.

He rolls his neck around as the tense muscles from earlier this morning slowly begin to relax under the hot water. He just stands there for a few minutes, soaking up the warmth and heat the water gives off.

With a small huffing breath, he begins to wash out his shoulder-length hair and body, glad that his metal arm is waterproof and won't short-circuit. He stands under the water for a few moments as the soapy suds wash out before turning off the water and wrapping a towel around his waist.

He uses a smaller towel to rub out his hair before using it to wipe off the foggy mirror. There are dark bruises beneath his eyes and they're rimmed red.

It reminds him of the smudges he'd have around his eyes when he was the Winter Soldier.

His fingers lift to his chin and rub softly along the hair growing there. It's not exactly a full-out beard, though it's getting there. He frowns a bit, a flash of images running through his mind.

_Cold metal lightly grazing along his face, the hazy image of another version of him in the mirror, shaving cream on his chin. His eyes are focused on the small blade in his hand as it cleanly runs along the barely there scruff._

Bucky frowns as he looks at the small plastic-handled item sitting on his shelf, brand new.  The only reason it was out of the package it came in was due to the fact Steve had given it to him. He hesitantly picks up the foreign item and twirls it around in his hand, a frown on his face.

He's shaved his scruff before, yes, though that was only a few times and he'd used his knife then. He had needed his beard to hide his identity when the whole world was searching for him.

He looks up into the mirror at the scruff on his chin. He tilts his head to the side as he looks at his clean, though very disheveled facial hair. Somewhere in the back of his mind hints towards something that seems to hate the fact that his face is not clean-shaven.

He knows from the few memories that he's managed to revive, and from Steve constantly remarking about his facial hair, that he used to be the epitome of a clean-shaven gentleman. Well... maybe without the full gentleman part.

Water drips down from his hair as his eyes shift to a small canister that sits on the shelf that his razor was on. He keeps looking between the two items, unsure.

He narrows his eyes slightly and his hand grabs for the can.

Within five minutes, he's cursing under his breath in Russian, pressing a small bit of toilet paper to his chin. It's the third time he's cut himself, though his chin is now bare of any facial hair.

He tosses the little piece of toilet paper into the small trash can and splashes some water on the area. He's barely nicked himself and the other two cuts have already closed and show no evidence of having happened, save for the small barely visible line on his pale skin.

All of them should be fully healed by noon due to his increased healing ability.  _I suppose those experiments were good for something,_  he thinks to himself, squinting his eyes at the three spots where he's sliced himself.

He runs a brush through his hair before deeming himself decent enough, returning to his room to dress in his standard tactical pants and a tactical vest with the one long sleeve. He doesn't bother with the gloves as he laces up his boots.

He brushes his teeth swiftly, not bothering to grab something from his kitchen to eat. He's out the door within minutes, reassuring himself that all of his weapons are where he's kept them on his person.

He doesn't acknowledge the stare some of the rarely-there agents gives him as he heads out of the communal area of the base, though his room is located on a different sector of it due to his need to be alone.

He makes sure to travel to the areas where he knows it's more rarely traveled upon, not truly wanting to be in the presence of others, especially after the night he's had.

He also doesn't want to see them for another more darker reason. He's afraid that he'll hurt someone.

Bucky heads towards one of the conference rooms where a map of the world is set up on the large table. This is where himself and Steve have been working on locating HYDRA bases, sometimes visited by Natasha and Wanda with their limited information on the subject.

Dr. Banner would show up every once and awhile to debunk some of their chosen areas, running some sort of program that'll determine if an area has seen more activity lately or if there have been odd sightings.

If an area reports nothing in activity, a pin will be removed. Every time Bruce runs the program at least one pin is moved from the board, making Steve more frustrated than the last time.

He slips into the room to see Steve just staring over the map with an intense glare. Every few moments he'd shift his eyes to his notes and would move a pin.

Bucky can tell Steve knows he's there, though he's too engrossed with his work to look up at his friend. "Early start?" Bucky asks needlessly, knowing how much Steve wants to take down HYDRA.

Steve just nods his head, muttering to himself as he reads over some of his notes. "... I don't think one of the bases could be here, though more people have been disappearing from this area recently," Steve says, sharing his thoughts aloud, gesturing to a section of the map located near Wyoming. "Though, a few of the people who have been discovered have been popping up all over the states and in other countries."

Bucky walks over to the table and leans against his arms as he looks over to where Steve's gesturing. "I can't tell if they're trying to get us to look in the wrong places or if they're just messing with us.

"What do you think, Buck-" Steve's speech cuts out as his head lifts upwards towards Bucky. He hadn't expected to see Bucky without the scruff he's been growing. He startlingly looks much like his younger self this way, despite the long hair curling slightly by his shoulders.

Bucky just lifts an eyebrow and it reminds Steve of the many times he would do that when they were younger. "You've shaved," he states. "You look more like, well, you."

Bucky's lip quirks slightly, though he can't help but mentally frown, not really remembering what he used to look like. He hasn't gotten too many memories over the past few months he's been here, just a few mindless flashes here and there. The only ones he's gotten are from the nightmares he has.

Instead of showing his conflicting thoughts, to which Steve can somewhat sense, he looks down at where the small blue pins are located, each demonstrating where a body has been found with markers of HYDRA involvement.

He points to a section off to the side of Colorado near the mountains, making Steve go on a whole new spiel.


	4. Chapter 4

**Entering the City**

The twittering of the early morning birds brings her mind out of a restless sleep as pushes herself up by her arms, looking at her surroundings with bleary eyes, blinking at the bright early morning light.

She doesn't care to acknowledge her state of undress, more focused on where she's at than anything.  She focuses on her senses and knows that she's still in the same forest that she was in last night, just a different part of it.

Her heart spikes as she flinches at the blaring of car horns and the sound of a city.  She knows that she's somewhere near the city, though she didn't know that she was this close.  The sounds are loud and somewhat foreign to her from the constant silence she was held in.

She lets out a shuddering breath, listening to the sounds closer to her.  All she hears is the sounds of some animals and no people.  She shakily pushes herself onto her legs, wobbling around as they ache sharply.

She bares her sharper canines at the ache as her waist-length hair covers her breasts.  She stretches out her limbs before aiming her nose towards the ground, easily picking up her more animalistic scent.

She follows her scent easily, ignoring the pain of hunger that strikes her.  Within ten minutes she's managed to find her "camp" and has changed into her clothes from last night.

She doesn't remember much of last night, only flashes and flickers of memories, though she knows that she most likely felt herself grow tired and started to head back to where her items are located.

She frowns at her shirt, though she's glad to see that there's only a small tear in it and she doesn't have to sew it up.  Mainly because she's running out of thread and she'd have to go into the city to steal it.

She looks over her minimal amount of items.  Another shirt, though a bit ratty, an extra pair of jeans that have holes in them, a pack of underwear she stole, a ratty pair of tennis shoes with no socks, a bar of soap, a toothbrush with no toothpaste, a brush for her hair, and a water bottle with a water filter that she managed to steal from a camping store.  It's enough for her to live with for a few more weeks until she has to either steal or find a job.

That's one of the reasons she headed to this particular city.  To find a job and to get as far away from HYDRA as possible.  She picks up the small bag and slings it over her shoulders, following the sound of flowing water.

She checks around her, scanning her surroundings before swiftly stripping out of her clothing before running and jumping into the river.  Her body trembles and her teeth chatter as she reaches the surface, the water attempting to pull her away from the bank.

She's strong enough to stay near her items as she begins to rubs soap through her hair and over her body.  It feels nice to finally be clean after all this time, her not having access to much water.  She has to force herself to not drink gulps of the water without purifying it first.

While it may not cause her to be really ill, she learned that earlier due to her animal side, she will still get sick.  She makes sure that she's fully clean and not to use too much soap before she pulls herself out of the freezing water.

It may have not been the smartest idea to jump into the freezing water of a river when it's already getting cold out, though she couldn't help herself.  Luckily her body heat is somewhat normal despite being heavily malnourished.

She pulls herself out of the water and wrings out her long hair, twisting it on the top of her head into some sort of bun.   _I need to get this cut,_  she thinks with a huff, struggling with her hair.  The last time it had been cut was about five years ago before she got taken.

She uses her torn shirt to dry her body off, slipping on the large long sleeve shirt she has and a pair of underwear.  She struggles slightly with her jeans, growling under her breath as she tries to pull them on, her legs numb.

"It was a bad idea to jump in the river," she grumbles under her breath, her voice tinted somewhat with a Russian accent.  While she may be a United States native, she's been in the presence of Russians for the past four years where she's constantly heard Russian and also spoke it herself.

Her body is still trembling as she slips on her ratty shoes and throws her bag on her shoulders again.  She leans down towards the river and lays her bottle in the water so it can be filtered.

The water slowly begins to fill the stream as she keeps her hearing trained on her surroundings.  She knows that HYDRA is after her, but they have yet to make an appearance.  She knows that they will find her soon enough, it's just a matter of when.

She overheard that one of the agents back at the base had been against HYDRA and had attempted to run away.  And while the agent didn't get too far, it took them about a month to find him.  She doesn't know what happened to him.

She estimates that HYDRA will not know how fast she can run, so she should be safe for a few months.  She'll know that she'll have to end up being found out, though she hopes that she can at least make enough money so she won't have to end up living off the wild, again.

She shakes her bottle to see it's almost filled.  It looks clean an a quick sip-test tells her that while it is somewhat high in minerals, it's healthy.  She has to stop herself from gulping down all of her water even though she knows she can just refill it in a restaurant bathroom.

She grimaces slightly and wraps her arms around her stomach as it clenches in hunger.  A growl softly leaves her throat as she gulps down some water and it soothes the pain slightly.  She hasn't been able to eat for the past few days and it's becoming extremely dangerous since she's already so malnourished.

Sipping a little bit more water, she begins to head towards the city.  The forest she's currently in is technically one of the national parks of the state and part of the city so it doesn't take her long to reach the edge of the park.

She's trembling in fear as she lets her half-damp hair down, stepping hesitantly onto the sidewalk.  She avoids looking at any visible cameras near her as she shies away from the few people walking.

Her eyes scan her surroundings as she searches around her.  Her eyes catch a sign on a door and she walks up to it.  She bites her lip as she reads the paper, looking through the window of the small old looking building.

It shows a small lobby and she can see an older woman sitting there.  Hesitantly, she opens the door.  She flinches as it slams behind her and draws the attention of the elderly woman behind the desk.

The elderly woman has a kind smile on her face as she looks at her and she ignores the feeling to shrink at her curious and pitiful gaze.  It's clear to this woman that she's most likely got no place to go.

Despite her feelings, she gives the woman a small smile.  "I read the paper on the door," she says softly, gesturing to the door behind her as she walks a few steps towards the woman.

She shifts on her feet as the woman looks at her.  "I was hoping I could rent a place out?" she asks, eyes pointing downwards in animalistic submission.  She can feel the woman's gaze as her and she peaks up from behind her hair.

"Sure, darling," the older woman says.  "How much do you think you'll be able to pay?"  Her voice is kind, though she knows that the older woman is trying to see how much money she may have.  The fact that she's so small and looks like a teenager may give her a few bucks off.

"Uhm... I... I don't..." she stutters slightly, trembling.  She doesn't know how to do this, it being a few years since she's had to live on her own.  At that time she actually had clothing and money on her person, but now she doesn't.

"How about you stay here for a month and we'll see how much you can pay, then?" the woman says kindly, making her eyes snap to the woman's and widen.  "I own the building so it wouldn't matter much if you can't pay as much as the apartment's worth."

She's already shaking her head "no" before the woman stops talking.  While she may be desperate for a place to say, it wouldn't be right for her to not pay what the room's worth.  The woman is still smiling kindly at her and she knows that the woman won't stop insisting.

"Look, darling," the woman says kindly, sighing in exasperation.  "You need a place to stay and I'm offering you a free apartment.  Why don't you stay here for a while and we can work something out?"

She bites her, ignoring the urge to wince as she presses down on the cuts from last night.   _Well... she_ is _insisting..._   She nods slightly.  "O... Okay, ma'am."


	5. Chapter 5

**Prisoner**

"I hate it here," Bucky says, taking a sip out of his water bottle.  He's currently in the gym with Steve and they're taking a little break to talk.  Steve looks over at him with a curious look.

"I feel like a prisoner."  Steve's face morphs into understanding at this.  Technically, Bucky is a prisoner there.  While he may have been pardoned by the President and he spent time at Wakanda to rid himself of the mind control HYDRA's done, he still reacts to things a little drastically.

"You kinda are, Buck," Steve says, his voice soft with displeasure.  "But that doesn't mean it's right!"  He says the words in a loud rush at Bucky's somewhat hurt look, wanting his friend to know that he doesn't want him to feel like a prisoner.

Bucky shakes his head and focuses on the punching bags near him.  Only Steve and himself can use these bags as they're reinforced with metal woven into them.  Both of them have broken numerous bags due to their enhanced strength.

He looks down at his left arm, the new one he received from T'Challa after his recovery in Wakanda.  The arm is made of vibranium and is somewhat similar to his old arm, though it looks different.

It connects to the silver metal from his old arm as that part of it was connected to his nervous system. It looks a little odd, the darker shade of silver-gray metal morphing into the light shiny silver, though he's happy he has an arm at all.

The fact that it's vibranium also makes it more dangerous.

He opens and closes his hand and can hear the whirring come from the mechanics in it.  His last arm was a little louder and he's still finding it a bit odd that it's not as loud.  It still makes a mechanical vibrating sound, though it feels different.

He has more feeling with this arm than the other one.  He has a better sense of pressure with this one and it's almost like he can actually  _feel_  with it.  He can't, though.  He clenches his fingers into a fist and drives it forward into the punching bag.

The bag swings back and his other wrapped hand drives forward.  It stings a bit and the bag doesn't move as much, though he continues punching.  He hears Steve begin to do the same and all that fills the air is their fists hitting the bags.

It'll take hours until they're tired enough and they're breathing hard, though they still work out.  A few strands of Bucky's long hair falls from his bun and frames his face.  He's come to like his longer hair though Steve still gives him a bit of snark for the "man-bun" as people are calling it.

Bucky can barely hear the beeping coming from his watch over the pounding in his ears, though he somehow manages to hear it. He stops punching and looks at the time on his watch, turning off the alarm.

Steve's already stopped punching as soon as the watch's alarm began ringing and is now drinking a few gulps out of his watch.  "We have a meeting in half an hour, right?" Steve asks, wiping his head off.  Bucky nods his head as he begins to gather his items, drinking his water along the way.

"See you in thirty," Steve says, nodding to Bucky and walking out the door.  Bucky nods to him and heads towards his room.  He takes a swift shower and dresses in tactical pants and a black t-shirt that covers the silver part of his arm.

He lets his hair down, mainly due to the fact that Sam will take any chance he has to be snarky at him.  He's still a bit upset that he not only fought him but ripped one of his wings of a few months ago.

He rubs his hand over the scruff that's grown since last time he's shaved it, though a quick glance at his watch tells him that he has no time for it.  He grabs an apple from the new batch he received yesterday, not having enough time to make a sandwich.

He takes the familiar barren path to the conference room that Steve and he have been using, though now it'll actually be used for its actual purpose.  He can't help but be a little nervous about being in a room with people who either outright dislike him, are wary of him, or hate him in Stark's case.

He walks through the open door to see half of the team are already there.  Bruce and Natasha are talking silently in the corner, Steve's up front looking at some notes, and Sam's texting on his phone.

Steve looks up when Bucky walks into the room, walking over to him after closing his notepad.  "Clint's on his way.  Said something about having to drop his kids off at school.  The kid's at school and his assistance isn't needed, and Wanda and Vision are currently working an undercover case, so they won't be here to help us.  Rhodes is on his way from D.C. and Tony... Well, he's being Tony."

Bucky nods his head at quick overview before walking to the table where Steve's notes are.  He doesn't acknowledge the fact that Natasha and Bruce are sparing him a few glances.

Sam puts his phone away and walks over to the two, making sure to keep his distance from Bucky as he knows he gets tense when people are near him.  It doesn't do much as Bucky still tenses somewhat.

"So, we've got a raid coming up, then?" Sam says, looking over all of the red pins on the board.  They're all of the suspected locations of a base while only three black ones show the actual locations of the known bases.

Steve nods his head and Bucky doesn't bother to comment, knowing that there's a low chance that he'll be joining them on the raid.  "Yes, but I'd rather talk more when everyone else is here," Steve says, rereading some of his notes with a few doodles on the page.

Sam rolls his eyes and Bucky lets out a small chuckle.  "Always the art nerd," Bucky says, one of his few memories of how the two of them decided to join the military during art class at Auburndale Art School.

Steve's eyes seem to light up as he flashes a quick smile at Bucky, happy that he seems to remember that part of their life.  He then scowls slightly as he realizes what Bucky called him.  "I'm not a nerd..."

Steve waves off Bucky's raised eyebrow as Clint and Rhodes walk into the room, Clint first and Rhodes a few moments afterward.  "Who are we missing?" Clint asks, looking around the room.  Everyone looks at one another.

"Tony."


	6. Chapter 6

**Shawarma**

She mumbles in Russian under her breath as she steps out of the cold shower.  The water in this section of the apartment building, which only has three floors, though the second floor is out of commission, tends to get colder much quicker than it's supposed to.

However, she's already used to the small time frame she has to shower from living here for about a month.  She's managed to get a job bussing tables and makes sure to help the old woman, Mrs. Bently, and her husband whenever they need it.

The old woman  _was_  kind enough to offer her a somewhat free apartment.  She thinks that she owes it to them to help them whenever they need it.  Even if it's just heading down the street to gather groceries.

She glances at the clock hanging on her bedroom wall, cursing to herself as she pulls on her undergarments and begins to throw on a pair of black jeans and a pale yellow shirt with  _The Shawarma Kingdom_  on it.

It's some sort of fast food sandwich place, and according to what she's overheard, the largest one in the area.  Meaning, the tables fill up fast and she ends up getting a lot of tips, despite her apparent shyness.

She's still a bit iffy about the city and those in it, especially after she caught a few people following her home one night.  Due to her heightened senses, she had been able to escape the men who were following her before she was completely alone.

She wrings her hair out and swiftly towel-dries it, still not owning basic hygiene tools such as a hairdryer.  She wraps it up in a bun, knowing that she'd be forced to wear a hairnet otherwise.

Slipping on a pair of run-down black shoes from a local thrift store, she locks her door and slips out of her apartment with a small shoulder bag.  She ignores the elevator on the wall closest to her, not knowing how to use the old cage ones from the 1940s.

The building, she learned, was passed down to Mrs. Lee from her parents who built it in the 1940s during the war.  The thick walls and the architecture hint to the antiqueness of the building.

Much of the apartment building still has original things from the 1940s, such as the elevator and some of the wallpaper.  Her appliances, while older, are from the past decade at least.

She waves shyly at the older woman and her husband as she sprints out of the building and down the sidewalk.  While she won't be late, she's learned from her past paycheck that if she arrives early and works more than one shift at a time, she'll end up with extra cash.

It helps a lot with her minimal amount of six dollars an hour, much below the minimum wage, apparently.  She's heard whispers, however, of the manager handing out a few promotions and raises soon.

She secretly hopes that she'll be one of the people to receive a raise, though doubts it as she's been here less than everyone else.  She makes sure to keep tabs on her surrounding as she heads down the street.

It's earlier in the morning and some people tend to stop by the restaurant to pick up breakfast before work.  She doesn't meet the eyes of anyone she passes, though she makes it seem as if she's not doing it on purpose.

She knows HYDRA's after her, though she doesn't know how long it'll take before they find her.  She hopes that it'll take them about a year so she can roll in some cash before running off.

She's managed to create a safe of sorts beneath a loose floorboard in her bedroom.  There she has her worn backpack with a few survival items, a first aid kit, two extra sets of clothing with undergarments and a blanket, as well as about four-hundred dollars.

That's a lot of cash considering she only gets two paychecks a month and they're barely over seven hundred dollars.

She easily weaves between students walking to school and anyone else who is heading to work on foot.  She doesn't bother with the bus as it costs too much and her work is only about eight blocks away from where she lives.

If she ran, she'd be able to make the time within two or three minutes.  But at her current pace, it'll most likely take her about ten minutes to get to work.  She growls under her breath as someone walks in front of her, cutting her off from where she was walking.

She shies away from them, however, as she sees that the person is a man.  She may be somewhat comfortable around Mr. Lee, mainly due to the fact that he's crippled, but she still can't help but be wary and nervous around men.

And for a good reason, too.  Men have only caused pain in her life and she doesn't plan on acting against them if she can help it.

She sighs in relief as she slips through the door to  _The Shawarma Kingdom_  and immediately heads to the room behind the back counter.  Small lockers sit there where she can store her purse and coat should she need too.

She's left her coat at home in her hurry, however, and now suffers the consequences of numb pink skin.  She rubs her arms as she easily warms up, her body heat higher due to her better health.  The last time she needed the body heat bonus was when she was half starved to death, but she was well below the average body temperature for a  _non-enhanced_  human.

She removes the thoughts of her... condition as she locks her purse in her locker and ties an apron around her waist.  She takes a few seconds to prepare herself, pulling out her small notepad and pen.

She's not one to speak much, though it's a part of her job.  Half the time she's either taking orders from customers or she's in the back washing dishes.  And while she always is a bit nervous when taking customer's orders, it pays better for the minimal tips she receives.

After another shuddering breath, she pulls a small smile on her face and walks out of the back room, mentally preparing herself for the long day ahead of her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have or may have not have forgotten to post the last six chapters. Whoops.

**How to raid a HYDRA base**

"So here's what we got so far," Steve says, gesturing to the map in front of him.  "The black pins represent the three known HYDRA bases that we didn't know before thanks to Bucky, the red pins are possible HYDRA bases based on the locations of the previously known bases, and the blue pins represent the bodies found that we know are related to HYDRA."

Everyone stands around the table, looking over the pins all over the map.  A lot of them are in Europe and Asia, though about a quarter of them are in the U.S.  The main areas in the U.S. that have red pins are in the south and the northeast.

Only one black pin sits in Alaska, and a lot of red pins are there.  There's a vast amount of open space that HYDRA can use to hide their bases.

"Where do you suggest we check out first?" Rhodes says, leaning over the table.  "Russia, Germany, or the pin closer to home in Alaska?"  He gestures to the black pin located on one of the "islands" on the tail part of the state.

The people with a military background are crowding around the table, looking over the various pins.  Tony and Fury had joined the group later, though Nick wasn't expected as he was in a meeting.

Everyone stares at the pins, somewhat overwhelmed.  "And you said that these are  _suspected_  bases?" Natasha states, staring over the map and completely ignoring Rhodes' question.  They'll get to that later.

Steve nods as he looks up at Rhodey.  "The smartest move would be to check out the bases closer to us.  We can do raids on a few bases before returning here to go over information.  The farther away we get, the longer we'll have to wait to add or remove pins from the map."

"Good idea," Rhodes says, looking over at Sam.  "Do you think that those of us who fly should check out the areas since it's smaller than a jet and therefore more secretive?"

"He has a point," Sam says.  "It'll save us time and we'll be able to remove or add pins easily if we find a base.  That way, we won't have to push all of us on a plane to a location to find out that there's nothing there."

"It has some merit to it," Fury mutters.  "However, what will happen if you're spotted?  I have no doubts that you all can hold your own, but that changes when you're alone and surrounded."

"We could all just team up?" Natasha suggests.  "There's no reason why just those who can fly should go.  We can have groups of two or three go out, that way we'll have eyes on the sky  _and_ the ground."

"That could work, right?" Clint says.  "That way we'll each have backup and we can check out areas quicker than we can alone."  A few people give sounds of agreement, Steve nodding along with them.

Bucky looks over the map as he flickers through a few memories that he's managed to remember.  He focuses more on the ones when he was under HYDRA's command, trying to remember anything that'll help them figure out which way they should search for the bases.

"HYDRA likes to be secluded," he says, making everyone look at him, no one expecting the stoic soldier to speak.  "Your best bet will be to keep low, though a higher perspective will help you.

"Those three bases," he gestures to the black pins, "They're hidden deep in a forest or they're in the mountains will nobody will suspect them.  However, it will be smart to check out a few of the cities near it for suspicious behavior.  They'll be making purchases, or will be stealing, with all of the tests they're running on people."

It's the most he can remember saying since forever.  He tends to keep quiet and secluded, speaking as few words as possible.  He ignores the stares he gets as he looks up at Steve.

"It makes sense," Steve says.  "Check out their possible suppliers and find possible accomplices and a few target people to get information out of."  Bucky nods his head as Fury takes the reins of the meeting.

"We'll have to get this plan ironed out, but what's for certain is that there will be teams of two.  All of you is going, save for Bucky and Bruce.  Bruce and Bucky, you'll be taking the information they relay you and will apply it to the map."

Bucky doesn't react when he hears that he's not going.  He already knew that he won't be helping out in the field, but he can't help but be disappointed and somewhat hurt.  They're still treating him as some sort of animal even though he hasn't had an incident since coming here seven months ago.

By Steve's side-glance, Bucky knows that Steve most likely knows how he's currently feeling.  He doesn't express it much, though Steve knows that it's tearing down his friend every time he's treated as a ticking bomb.  And maybe he is.

He sighs through his nose as the meeting is wrapped up, a few people debating who's teaming with who and Bruce telling Steve that he and Tony will run the location program again to reduce the number of places they'll have to check out.

Everyone trails out of the room as the meeting comes to a close, Bucky waiting until everyone, save for Tony, Bruce, and Steve, are gone.  Someone grabs his arm as he goes to walk out the door and he turns to find Steve giving him a look.

Steve shifts his eyes over to Tony and back to him and he squints his eyes at him.   _Not now_ , Bucky thinks, shrugging off Steve's hold on him.  Steve gives him a deadpan look and Bucky sighs again.

"You need to talk to him," Steve hisses under his breath.  Tony and Bruce stop their conversation to watch the two, unable to hear what they're talking about.  "I know you're tired of staying here like a prisoner, more so when we're all out on missions and you can't leave the base."

Bucky scowls.  "It's fine," he insists, even though he does want to talk to Tony about his living arrangement.  Tony's the one that pays them all, putting the money he makes into the government who pay the Avengers in turn.

There's also the fact that he killed Tony's parents and Tony absolutely hates his guts.  "It's not fine," Steve says loudly.  "You should  _not_  be kept here like a prisoner.  You're getting better and you'll never fully recover if you're kept here and everyone looks at you like you're going to explode."

Bucky glares at Steve, though he knows that he cares for him and just wants what's best for him.  "He does have a point," Bruce mutters, looking at both of them.  The two soldiers turn their attention to the scientist and Tony, who's lips are pursed.

"Having my own place to stay in that's away from people who  _know_  what I can do, it's helped me gained more control over who I am."  Bucky's somewhat annoyed that Bruce put himself into their business, though he respects the fact that he's just trying to help him.

"He can be dangerous," Tony says.  Bucky's scowl deepens as he looks at the man, no matter how true his statement may be.

"Everyone has the potential to dangerous, Stark," Steve says, defending his friend.  Bucky can't help but be slightly amused as the roles from when they were younger have seemed to have switched.

Tony's jaw clenches as he stares at Steve and Bucky, sighing as they both meet his gaze.  "Fine," he all but growls out.  "But if I hear of one incident.   _One_.  He's back here and won't be let out again."  Bucky glares at him though nods his head in acceptance, knowing that's all he's going to get.

Steve goes to protest before Bucky elbows him in the ribs.  "That's all we were asking for," Steve says, stepping out of the room as Bucky leaves, intent on spending some time alone.

He stops somewhere in the middle of the vacant hall.  "Thank you."  He turns to Steve who shakes his head at him.

"You're my friend," he replies.  "And friends help friends."


	8. Chapter 8

**New Neighbor**

She rubs her eyes as she grabs her small purse out of the locker.  She had been asked to work an extra four-hour shift even though she had already worked ten hours.  Her feet are aching and she's  _exhausted_.

She doesn't wave a good-bye to the clean-up crew and walks out of the restaurant and into the chilly and nearly freezing air.  She mutters under her breath and wraps her arms around herself, her arms already gathering goosebumps from the cold.

She quickly walks down the sidewalk, taking the late hour into consideration.  She's been at work since almost six and now it's a few minutes past ten.  She had refused her breaks and is now cursing herself as her feet begin to throb.

The cool air removes most of her tired effects and she keeps a high alert on what's going on around her.  She luckily chose to stay in one of the better areas of the city where there's not as much traffic or crime.

She wonders how the old woman didn't have anyone rent out an apartment before her considering the nice placement.  She crosses the road swiftly as a car drives past, happy that no one is following her home tonight.

She hasn't been able to pay for self-defense classes, working almost every day and saving as much money as she can for rent and for stashing away.  She hasn't put too much money in food and she knows that she's still eating less than she should.

A lot of people may want to take advantage of her because of her small frame.

She sighs a breath of relief as she walks into the warmth of the apartment building lobby.  The old woman's sitting at the desk looking more busy than usual.  She doesn't think anything of it as she heads towards the stairs.

"Oh, dear!" the old woman addresses her, causing her to walk over to her warily.  The last time the old woman stopped her from going to her apartment, she had spent half the night cleaning up a paint spill.

She smiles tentatively at the older woman as she forces herself to walk over to her.  "Yes, ma'am?" she asks, trying not to look too annoyed that the woman called out for her.

"It's nothing, dear," the old woman says, somehow knowing what she was thinking.  "I just wanted to tell you that we've got another tenant and since the second floor's receiving repairs, he'll be in the apartment next to yours."

Her breath catches in her throat, but that's the only sign she shows at the new information.  She's not too bothered that there's another tenant as the walls are too thick to hear her screaming from night terrors, it's just the fact that Mrs. Lee said  _he_.

As in the new tenant, her neighbor, is a  _man_.  "O-Oh..." she stutters out slightly.  "Thank you for informing me."  She casts a shaky smile to the somewhat frowning woman, heading towards the stairs.

As she reaches the second floor, her breathing has become labored and her eyes have widened considerably in panic.  She tries to compose herself as she walks past the door to her neighbor's apartment, quickly unlocking her door and slamming it closed.

She leans against the door and slides down it, breathing heavily into her hands.   _It's fine,_  she tries to assure herself.   _He's not going to do anything to you.  He's not_ him _._

Her breath shudders as her breathing begins to calm, her heartbeat slowing down a bit.  She swallows thickly as she walks to her kitchen in the dark, not really needing light as her eyes shift to a golden hue, night vision activating.

Her hand shakes as she opens her fridge, squinting at the sudden flash of light as she grabs a bottle of water.  She unscrews the cap and lifts the water to her lips, the water shaking in the bottle.

She gulps nearly all of it down, realizing how thirsty and hungry she is.  She hasn't had anything to eat since last night.  She grabs some bread and tosses it into her toaster, grabbing some of her lunchmeat to make a sandwich.

She leans on the counter, head in her hands as she waits for the toast to pop.  Her breathing has calmed, though she's still a bit shaky from her panic attack.  She swallows as she realizes that she'll end up seeing the man one way or another.

There's no way that she can avoid him, living right next to her.  Light floods her living room as she puts the lunchmeat on her bread and sits in the darkness of her living room.  This apartment building is small, only two apartments, save for the first floor, holding two apartments each.

Most of the first floor is the Lee's own apartment.

She doesn't allow herself to think too much about it as she finishes her sandwich, wiping the crumbs off her.  She sips a bit more of her water before placing it back in her fridge, beelining it straight to her bedroom, specifically her bed.

She takes the time to strip herself of her clothing, save for her undergarments, as she lowers herself into her warm sheets, having turned her heat on after she made her sandwich.  She shivers slightly as she resets her alarm on her nightstand, lowering her head to her pillow.

She eyes begin to feel heavy as her exhaustion begins to take over.  She doesn't care right now that she'll most likely have another nightmare, too tired from today's events and the news she just received.

She doesn't acknowledge the fact that she'll most likely see her new neighbor sometime tomorrow as it's her day off.  Her mind flows around what the man is going to be like.  How old he is, what he looks like.

She knows that she shouldn't be thinking these curious thoughts, though she can't help herself.  She tells herself that she only wants to know so she can make sure how much of a threat he is, though somewhere deep in her mind thinks the opposite.

It says that she's curious because she's just simply curious.


	9. Chapter 9

**The New Apartment**

_I never expected it to take this long or for it to be this hard to find an apartment,_  Bucky thinks to himself, running a gloved hand through his long hair.  Not only does the pair of gloves cover his metal hand, but it also seems reasonable with winter coming around.

In fact, he's surprised that it hasn't started snowing yet.

Steve walks beside him, his phone in his hand.  Bucky hasn't bothered with buying himself a phone, more for the fact that he never really needed one until now.  The first thing the pair had done, along with Sam who was slowly getting over his grudge against Bucky, was buy him a phone.

Stark had been clear this morning before he headed out that he was to get some way to contact them.  With Sam's help, Bucky had chosen an iPhone with the money that had been piling up from disuse, the only thing the money going to was his minimal wardrobe and his groceries.

It's nearing about six o'clock and Sam had taken off, muttering something about a meeting of sorts. Steve had immediately understood, having actually found out not too long after they met that Sam holds meetings for troubled veterans.  Steve had filled him in after Sam left, having seen his confused expression.

"What're you lookin' at?" Bucky mutters to Steve, curious about what's got his attention.  He's been looking at his phone for about ten minutes now.  Steve's head snaps up and he smiles sheepishly at his friend.

"Sorry, I was actually lookin' up some of the quieter neighbor'oods for you," Steve says, tucking his phone into his jeans pocket.  "'Heard that a few of them have open apartments."  Bucky just shakes his head at his friend.

"Thanks?  I think..."  The two of them walk shoulder to shoulder, their gate like a soldier's.  A normal civilian wouldn't think anything of their broad-shouldered gait, though those with military background would easily be able to tell that the two of them are, or were soldiers.

Bucky allows Steve to take the lead as he walks them to one of the older neighborhoods.  Both of them feel nostalgia, Steve more so than Bucky, as the buildings become smaller and older looking.

He knows that these buildings are from a long time ago.  From  _his_  time.  He can feel it somewhere in the back of his mind, trying to break through.  He can practically feel the memories trying to force their way up and it's making him a tad frustrated, unable to know what's causing his sudden "homey" emotions.

He shakes his head as he walks through the blocks, noting that there aren't many people out on the streets, some people staying inside where the warmth is or in the cars that are driving past.

The two of them look around at the buildings, bypassing some of the shops and stores that litter the area.  Many of the buildings, however, are small apartment buildings of only a few floors each, the most being about seven or eight, most likely housing one or two apartments a floor.

As his eyes take in his surroundings, his instincts urging him to search for a threat and a possible escape route, his eyes by chance land on a large wooden door.  Specifically, one with a white piece of paper attached to it.

Bucky, out of curiosity, heads over to the door, though he is cautious and tense.  He has been all day.  He hears Steve follow behind him silently as he reads over the note.  His eyes light up as he stares through the window, seeing an old woman manning a small reception desk.

"They've got apartments for rent," Bucky states, nodding into the door.  Steve grins, happy that they've found a possible apartment for Bucky.

"Well?" he says, gesturing to the door. "What're you waiting for?"  Bucky gives him a blank stare before turning the knob on the door.  The thing feels so fragile under his metal hand that he feels it hasn't been changed since it was first built in the 40s.

A little bell rings above their heads, alerting the dozing woman of their presence.  After recovering from her startle, she gives the two men a soft smile.  "How can' I help you boys, today?" she asks them happily, most likely knowing that they've seen the paper on the door.

Steve ignores the urge to snort in amusement, knowing that the both of them are technically older than her.  She can't be more than sixty or seventy years old and they're approaching their mid-to-late nineties.

Instead of showing his amusement, and taking note how Bucky doesn't like speaking all that much, Steve takes the lead.  "Hello, ma'am," he says respectfully, walking up to the small wooden desk.  "My friend here saw your sign and was interested in an apartment?"

He angles his head to the side as his voice tilts up in question.  He gestures to Bucky who nods his head at the woman, a smile somehow crossing his features.  The woman's face seems to light up as she looks between the two.

"Well, you're in luck, sweetheart!" she says, pulling out some documents and a few photos of the only apartment left.  "We've got one fully furnished apartment available.  It's on the third floor as the second floor's getting renovations.  Here are the pictures."  She hands the pictures of the small apartment to Steve who looks over them with Bucky, taking a few steps away from the woman to talk to Bucky in some privacy.

"So, what do'you think?" Steve asks him, looking over the apartment.  There are two images of the bedroom, showing two perspectives of the small room that's nearly completely filled with the queen-sized bed.

They both skip over the bathroom photo, not really caring how big the bathroom is.  As long as Bucky's concerned, if it has warm water and a shower, he's all good.  The kitchen is small, too, though it looks to be the same size as the one he's got back at the base, so that's fine.  The appliances are a bit outdated, both of them notice, but as long as they work, it's okay.

It's not like he's going to use them much anymore.

The last three images are of the living area.  One of the walls has a large window across it, a radiator sitting below it in the corner of the room.  There's a couch and two chairs, a small coffee table, and from what he can see, an older flat-screen television.

"'Looks good," Bucky says, nodding in approval.  "'Just hope that rent's not too much."  Steve nods in understanding, having had trouble paying for his own slightly smaller apartment before he moved into the new base.

They both nod once at each other, returning the images to the elderly woman.  It seems as if she already knows that they're going to say before they have the chance to ask the question.

"The apartment isn't too much, only around five-hundred dollars a month along with some help around the place," the woman says kindly, looking into Bucky's blue eyes.  "I'm getting too old t' do a lot of the chores 'round here and you wouldn't have t' do much as my other tenant's helping out as well."

"She really knows how t' get you hooked," Steve mutters under his breath, knowing that Bucky'll be able to hear it easily.  His lip twitches up at that before nodding at the older woman.

"'Sounds good, ma'am," he says for the first time to the older woman.  "I'll take it."


	10. Chapter 10

**Different**

It's been nearly two weeks since learning that she's got a new neighbor. She has yet to see him though she could hear him moving through the halls due to her enhanced hearing. She's learned that he's got a steady, but silent gait. The only reason why she knew he was there was that he had been talking to someone, presumably on the phone.

She's worried every night since learning that he's moved in because of her nightmares. She knows she's loud during her night terrors, one of the reasons she was determined to stay away from humanity when she had nowhere to go.

Almost every time she has a nightmare, her shift will be triggered and she'd painfully transform into the wolf. And along with the intense heat an pain, she'd scream. Luckily the thick walls of the older building would muffle almost all sounds from within, so she doesn't put too much thought into it after she shifts.

She's shifted numerous times since coming here, the nightmares seeming to be getting worse and worse than better. The only thing getting better, however, was the pain for when she's transitioning.

While still immensely painful, especially when her face, pelvis, and collarbone breaks and morphs, she's felt that the shift seems to be somewhat quicker and a little less painful. She's not screaming as much as before, she's learned.

She's also learned after her first transition in her new apartment that either she locks her bedroom door at night, sleep almost completely in the nude, and have nothing breakable in the room, or she ends up tearing things up in the rest of the apartment.

She's had to pay the old woman back for tearing up one of the older chairs that came with the apartment. Luckily the chair was cheap and not too old and the one she bought in replacement is much larger and comfortable.

She's also finding it hard to keep full control over herself when her instincts are running high. She's ended up knocked out somewhere in her bedroom with no recollection as to what happened the night before more times than she'd care to admit.

This was one of those mornings. She had woken up immensely sore, bloody, and having a major headache. Oh, and she also couldn't remember much after she turned into the animal side of her, as well.

None of it was new to her, however, though she's becoming steadily aggravated at the blood. The shift is too hard on her thin an frail body, the skin along the back of her calves, between her shoulders along her spine, and her nose breaking as her bones mercilessly morph beneath her skin.

She pushes herself out from under her bed, a headache causing her to clench her eyes shut as the light pierces through her windows along the back wall. She's ended up under the bed more often recently and she suspects it's due to the fact that she doesn't feel safe with the man sharing her bedroom and kitchen walls.

She can't help it. It's a natural reaction for her. Men have only caused pain for her so she feels that it's normal for her to be wary of any masculine and dominant man she meets. Or hears of in this case.

She groans out as she pulls herself into a standing position, stumbling a little on her feet and ending up sitting on her bed. Her bleary eyes check out the damage she's done her room and is relieved to see that the only casualty is her knocked over nightstand and  _very_  flexible lamp.

She's just happy that she hasn't torn her sheets. Again.

She doesn't mind the fact that she's nude as her blinds are closed. No one would have been able to see her anyway if they were open for there were buildings blocking her window somewhat.

She sighs as she presses a hand to her forehead, picking up the few items that lay on her floor. Other than her lamp and nightstand, her sheets, comforter, and pillows have been thrown all over to the room.

She makes the bed as clean as possible, though it's a bit wrinkly. She ignores the urge to fix it as her eyes shift to her clock.  _5:43_. It's early in the morning. Much earlier than she thought it should have been for the night she had last night.

She can still remember the flickers of the nightmare that triggered her instincts, already feeling the steady fire in her begin to rise as the thoughts. He sighs and ignores the urge to crawl back into bed.

While it may be her only day off and she deserves to lie in, especially with how much overtime she's been doing lately, she heads to her bathroom. It's not trashed and she turns the water on, immediately stepping into it.

It's quick to warm and quick to turn cold. She spends as much time as she can under the warm spray, quickly washing her body and hair. She hadn't been able to take one last night, too dead on her feet to care about doing so.

It's just after six when she exits the bathroom and heads into her kitchen, set on finding something to eat to please the monster in her stomach. She growls softly as she sees nothing in her fridge or cupboards, having forgotten to by food  _again_.

She scowls and goes back to her room, switching out her sweats for a pair of jeans and a dark red-orange sweater to match the dying trees. She pulls on her boots, having found them for sale for  _five dollars_  at the thrift store.

They're steel-toed and she had been immediately smitten with them, even if they were a size too big. Not only are they sturdy and cup her ankles securely, but they also provide that she can kick someone as hard as possible without suffering a broken toe.

Yeah, they were her favorite pair of shoes by far.

She pulls on a heavy jacket, this one actually the old woman's jacket from when she saw her walking home in the cold. It's a bit loose on her, though understandable considering her short stature and probably a hundred pound weight and has a tie in the middle in it along with buttons to hold it together.

Moving her hair to hide her face, and slipping a small knife into her boot,  _just in case_ , she opens her door. She takes barely two steps out of her apartment when she runs into something hard.

Two hands wrap securely around her waist as she begins to fall backward, an alarmed hiss escaping her throat. Her hands wrap around the arms of the person who caught her, despite her dislike for being touched.

Once she's steadied, she immediately jumps out of the person's tight, but gentle grip, and her eyes snap to theirs. She tries to hide her panic and fear as she looks into the man's icy blue eyes, though she can tell he can sense it.

She can feel her heartbeat spike as she trembles in place, staring down at her shoes. "S-Sorry," she stutters out, her voice barely a whisper.

He's staring at her, she can feel it and she takes a glance up at him. He has an odd look on his face that she can't describe but decides to ignore. "Thank you," she tells him, ducking her head in embarrassment.

Despite being fearful of the  _large_  and  _muscular_  man in front o her, she can't help but be flustered about his attractiveness. His eyes are pretty and he's got some scruff on his chin, and long brown hair brushing against his shoulders.

She'd never thought to think that to be attractive, not having really thought about a man's attractiveness before, though she can't help but blush as he looks at her small frame.

He tilts his head to the side. "'T's fine," he mutters out lowly, taking a step back from her after realizing how close they are to one another. She can't help but things the huskiness of his voice is attractive, unlike the cold and calculating or harsh and cruel voices she's used to.

She bites her lip and goes to the direction of the stairwell before her eyebrows furrow in confusion as she reaches for her purse. She tilts her head to the side at the man who bends down to pick up something.

She ducks her head again as she realizes that it's her purse she's dropped and looks at the man sheepishly. He holds it to her with his right arm, noticing that he seems to be hiding his other arm from view.

She doesn't pay mind to it and reaches for it. Her sleeve on her right arm hikes up as she reaches for the small bag, revealing a black mark. It's somewhat hard to read by his angle, but it's easy to see that the word on her forearm is in Russian, along with a four digit number beneath it.

'гидра'

HYDRA.


	11. Chapter 11

**HYDRA's Prisoner**

His eyes flicker to the black mark on her wrist before his breath catches in his throat.  He doesn't show it, but panic is slowly filling him with a burning pain and anger in its midst.  He can tell that she knows that he saw her wrist by the way she pulls the sleeve down and reaches for her purse with her other arm.

"Thank you," she whispers to him and he has a feeling that she's only doing that out of courtesy by the way she's shifting around on her feet nervously.  He nods to her and watches as she shuffles past him and swiftly walks towards the stairwell.

He's confused as to why she's not using the elevator, but he has to remind himself that it's the old type of elevators from his era and she most likely doesn't know how to use it.  He doesn't stare after her and heads towards his apartment, closing the door silently behind him.

He's dressed in sweats even though it's cold out.  He's finding it a challenge to sleep in a new place, so he tends to take his frustration out on running around the block a few dozen times.  No one else is out and he's sure that only people in their sixties to seventies live here by the poor states of the buildings.

His hair is loose as he doesn't want to take the chance for anyone to recognize him.  In truth, no one really knows what he looks like as it had been a false call back in Sokovia, so people are unsure if the Winter Soldier is really him or not.

He heads towards his nightstand beside his bed that has his phone lying on it and charge it.  He unplugs it and immediately calls Steve, his number on something called "speed dial."

The phone only rings twice before the somewhat sleepy voice of Steve answers the phone.  "Hello?"

"Steve," Bucky hisses lowly in his phone, beginning to pace back and forth.  "Remember that neighbor that the old woman mentioned?"

"The one who you says stays in her apartment and knocks things over a lot?"  Steve asks him, alert but also confused sounding.

"Yeah," Bucky says, peaking out his window, suddenly suspicious of everything around her.  "'Met 'er today.  This mornin'.  We bumped into each other and she kinda' freaked out."  Bucky runs his hands through his hair at the trembling image of the girl not only ten minutes ago.

"She recognize you?" Steve asks him, his voice worried.  Bucky knows that Steve cares about him, especially when it comes to people knowing who he really is.  It's just that he's not  _used_  to being cared about and he doesn't remember Steve as much.

He has a sense of friendship, the friendship that he used to have with him, though he just doesn't remember any of it.  It's frustrating, to say the least.  "Don't think so," Bucky replies to him.  He hears Steve suck in a breath to ask another question, though his serious voice cuts him off.  "Steve."

"Buck?" comes Steve's voice, completely void on the sleepiness from a few minutes ago.  Bucky knows that he didn't wake him up, though he had most likely just woken up by the sound of murmuring voices in the background.

Bucky takes in a somewhat shuddering breath, suddenly aware of the nervous sweat dampening his forehead.  "She has a mark.  From HYDRA."

Steve's silent for a few seconds before he sighs into the phone.  "What does that mean?" he asks warily, already motioning for those around the kitchen to listen in.  "You're on speaker, by the way."  Bucky takes a second to roll his eyes at his friend before he's serious again.

"She has a HYDRA prisoner serial number tattooed on her wrist," Bucky tells him, metal hand gripping the edge of his bed.  "Steve, HYDRA had her.  She was a prisoner."

It's silent on the other end of the line before a soft curse flows through the phone.  "Bucky, is she still there?" Steve's voice comes through the phone, along with the sounds of drawers opening.

"No," he growls into the phone, ignoring the urge to punch something.  While the walls in this building are thick, he doesn't want to break them.  "She was headin' out when we bumped into each other.  'Pretty sure she was lookin' for food.  She hasn't been out of her apartment since gettin' home from work."

Yes, he was keeping tabs on her.  He heard the very muted screams and the thudding of furniture every time she had a nightmare.  The walls couldn't block that out.

"You need to go after her, Buck," Steve says into the phone urgently, heading out of the base with Natasha and Clint.  Clint had stayed at the base due to an overnight assignment.

"Al'ready on it," Bucky says into the phone before hanging up, pulling off his sweats and throwing more appropriate clothing.  He dresses in dark wash jeans with a black sweater.  He throws two shoulder holsters on that will hide underneath his jacket.

He's got knives hidden in his boots and hidden in his sleeves for easy removal.  He wonders around his apartment quickly, taking two handguns that he had hidden in his chairs and putting them in his shoulder holsters.  He hides another in the back of his jeans before throwing on his jacket.

He's got more weapons hidden around this apartment, not for a second allowing himself to be armed just with kitchen knives and his arm should he runt into trouble.  He's out of his apartment within seconds and doesn't bother with the elevator, instead choosing to fly down the stairs.

He walks up to the old woman, who's somehow already sitting at the reception desk, with the most charming smile he can pull.  "My neighbor," he says.  "She dropped somethin'.  Do you know where she went?"

The older woman smiles kindly at him.  "She just ran down to the grocery, dear," she tells him.  He smiles at her, nodding his head in thanks.

He ignores the urge to run down the road and tries to make it seem like he's running errands.  He keeps an eye on his surroundings as he walks down the street, heading towards the closest shop.  His pace picks up as he nears it, something banging around in the alleyway next to it.

He hears a girl screech and pulls the gun from the back of his jeans and sending a text to Steve with the address.  He holds his gun up at the ready and cautiously walks towards the alley.  There's a grunt of pain from a man and the sound of flesh hitting flesh and that's all he needs to know to rush the alley.


	12. Chapter 12

**HYDRA's Attack**

She had just been about to enter the local corner store when someone had grabbed her from behind and shoved her into the alley beside it.  She had heard a few sets of feet after her, though she hadn't expected them to attack her so close to cameras.

She yelps as she's thrown against the wall, her back smacking against the wall.  She hisses in pain and has no time to reach for her knife as seven men surround her.  They're all much larger than her and a few of them have guns, but they're not lethal.

 _Most likely has tranq darts,_  she thinks to herself, narrowing her eyes at them and ignoring the trembling in her body as her heart races in fear.  The ringleader steps forward and the fire within her flares as her nails turn into claws.

She presses herself into the wall, baring her elongated canines at the men.  A soft scared growl leaves her throat as the man continues forward.  She doesn't wait for him to come to her and she pounces at him, claws at the ready.

The man hadn't expected the action and is unable to properly defend himself as her claws puncture his throat.  His foot is thrown out and hits her leg and she falls to the ground, snarling out slightly.

She ignores the man who slumps to the ground, a large mass tackling her.  With her back pressed against the ground, she trembles as the man leans into her, remembering what happened last time she was in this position.

She wiggles underneath him, managing to knee him in the balls.  He releases her wrists and she claws at his face, easily piercing the flesh there and at his throat.  She barely manages to stand again as she's kicked in the stomach, crying out as her head smacks against the brick behind her.

The man who had hit her throws a fist forward, hitting her in the side of her head as the other men pin her down.  "Let me go!" she hisses out, her voice heavily accented in her struggle.

A silenced shot fires and they all jump at the sudden muffled sound.  She manages to claw at one of the man's arms, the other one having let go when the gun fired.  The man whips his arm around, though she grabs it and twists it in an odd way, having only gone to a few self-defense classes and not knowing how to fight properly.

She must have done something right as the man falls to his knees as his arm breaks beneath her grasp like a twig.  She whips her head back as the other guy manages to wrap his arms around her.

The man is suddenly pulled off her and she manages to remember that someone fired a gun.  She lets go of the man who's passed out on the ground, walking backward, eyes wide as she sees her neighbor fight off the last remaining man.

Her neighbor had managed to apprehend or kill, she doesn't care which, the last five men within the span of a minute.  He checks a few of their pulses before rounding to her trembling form, her eyes wide as she tries to fight off a panic attack.

He raises his hands up to show her that he's no harm, and her eyes flicker to his left arm, widening as she sees a metal hand instead of a flesh one.  He cusses under his breath in Russian, her easily being able to hear it and translate it.

Three pairs of feet sprint into the alleyway, stopping at the scene they've come to.  She presses herself into the corner of the alleyway, there only being one entrance and exit, warily eyeing the people in front of her.

Her eyes shift from all of their faces wildly, snarling out and baring her teeth and claws at them when the tall blonde man, who she vaguely recognizes, steps forward.  He raises his hands, most likely to show that he's also no harm, but effectively making her flinch against the wall, hitting her bloody head against the brick wall.

She whimpers out slightly though covers it with a low growl, the fire rising in her veins.  She feels her muscles begin to tremble at it, traveling to her joints.  She clenches her eyes shut as pain envelopes her, falling to her knees and leaning forward to press her clawed hands into the ground.

She gasps out in pain as she begins to shift, only just barely hearing the people in front of her come towards her.  She sees a hand enter her field a vision, making her eyes snap upwards to snarl at the offending appendage.

" _Do not touch me!_ " she hisses out between an enraged snarl and a fear pained whimper.  She tries to steady her breathing as her bones begin to break.  She manages to kick her shoes off as the four people watch her in shock.

"What's happening?" she hears a soft feminine voice whisper.  She doesn't bother to see who it is, knowing it's the only girl with the dark red hair.

"HYDRA must have done something to her," the man, her neighbor, whispers back, making a snarl leave her as she tugs off her jacket.  She whines in pain as her bones begin to break and morph.

Her spine becomes more prominent as she bites her lip to keep the pained whine out, one hand clawing at her tightening shirt.  She barely pays mind at the fact that she likes this shirt, and she's wearing nothing but a sports bra, as she tears it off her.

She coughs up blood as her ribs become very prominent, fur beginning to grow all over her body.  She tries to keep in the scream of pain as her pelvis, collarbone, and feet break and morph at once.

She begins to growl out as her whole body trembles.  She snarls out as her body looks more wolf than human.  She flips herself onto her back, arching in pain as she tears her jeans off.

Her body writhes around as her tail lengthens and fur grows out.  Her muscles ripple slightly and she shakes her fur out as her growls become steady.  She's silent and panting for a few moments before her dark golden eyes raise to the four people in the alley.

She bares her teeth at them and snarls, her head tall enough to be right under her neighbor's shoulder.  She crouches back slightly, tail between her legs as she looks at them.

They're all shocked, respectively, before snapping out of it as she snarls at them, baring her large teeth at them.  A round fires from a tranq gun and it makes her stumble slightly, making her shake her head at the drowsiness.

Her adrenaline is high, and along with that is the fire coursing through her veins from her transformation, she doesn't get knocked out.  She narrows her eyes at the people, pissed that they tried to knock her out as the men from HYDRA tried to do.

While she may be shy, timid, and the epitome of scared submission in her humane form, that is the complete opposite when she's animal.  Her instincts are running high and right now she wants to attack anything threatening them, including the people that saved her.

Before she can pounce at them, however, two more tranq darts join the other one and she's collapsed on the ground.  The last thing she glimpses is the icy blue of her neighbor's eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

**The Wolf**

He stares at the limp body of the  _wolf_  in front of him with disbelief.  He looks at those around him and knows that they're shocked as well.  "Did that just happen?" Clin asks, folding his unneeded bow and placing it in his quiver of arrows.  He had grabbed them in pure instinct, not actually thinking about doing it.

Bucky nods and looks down at his metal hand, glaring at the blood found there.  He had stupidly forgotten his glove in his hurry to chase after the girl.  "Did that girl just turn into a  _wolf_?" Barton asks again, staring at the softly breathing animal.  Luckily she hadn't transformed back into a human as she would have been nude, having torn her clothing off her as she transformed.

"I've seen weirder," Natasha says, shrugging her shoulders and pulling her phone out and dialing Fury's phone number.  Everyone gives her a dull, disbelieving look, but she shrugs it off and walks to the end of the alley.

Somehow, the shot and the girl's screams hadn't drawn the attention of anyone, most likely due to the fact that all of this area's occupants are people with serious hearing issues.  Steve stares after her for a second before checking some of the bodies, wincing at the one with the bullet through their skull and the two with puncture marks in their throats.

He knew that those last two were the girl's doing by what he had just seen.  "Hey Buck," Steve calls out, grabbing his attention.  "Help me with them, will ya?"  He walks over to his best friend, trying to ignore the blood in the alleyway.  There's not much, but the sudden violence and then the girl's screams of pain is drawing him to a darker place that he'd rather not go to.

He helps Steve move all of the men into a sitting position by the wall.  All of them are knocked out, save for the three who got killed, and are sporting various wounds.  One of the men has a broken arm, another with a bloodied nose and a bump on his head, two with shallow knife wounds, and the last one most likely won't be able to walk for a while.

Bucky walks over to the large body of the tall looking wolf and lifts her up into her arms, stumbling from the surprising weight.  Her wolf side isn't too heavy, most likely because she's so small as a human, though it's heavier than he thought.

"Want me to carry her?" Steve asks, having seen Bucy stumble a bit.  Bucky just grunts and rearranges the body of the wolf-girl who shifts around in his arms, whining in her drug-induced sleep.

"'M'good," he says, walking over to the exit of the alley where a black van pulls up.  "Grab her clothes."  Steve does as told as Bucky steps into the van and sits across from Natasha.  People in the van behind the van load up the HYDRA agents in the alley as Steve jumps into the car.

He inspects the wolf's body for injuries, frowning at the blood around her nose and mouth and on the back of her head.  There's also some blood between her shoulders along her spine, along her foot, and also some around her ears.

He removes the darts and presses her red sweater to the back of her head, frowning as blood still flows from it and she whimpers in pain.  It's the only place that is still bleeding.  "Is she okay?" Steve asks as the van takes off to the Avengers base.

"She's got blood all over her, her head's still bleedin', and she's got bruises underneath her fur, I'm sure," Bucky lists off, ignoring the looks Natasha and Clint are giving him.  It's one of the longest things she's said in their presence.

"What happened before we arrived, Barnes?" Clint asks, leaning forward in his seat.  Bucky narrows his eyes at the question, though answers anyway.

"When I arrived, one of the men were already dead.  Six of them were attackin' her and I shot one.  She clawed another after one of the men holding her down got distracted.  She broke one of the men's arm and broke the other's nose.  I managed to fight off everyone else save for the two men she killed and the one with the broken arm."

His voice is cold and calculating as he gives his report of the events, knowing that he'll have to relay the information to Nick Fury when they get to the base.

"She killed them?" Natasha says, looking at the wolf's body warily.  Bucky narrows his eyes at her and tilts his head to the side.

"It was self-defense, Natalia," he says coldly, the name easily slipping off his tongue.  He now knows why the red-headed woman looked so familiar.  It's because she was one of his students in the Red Room.

Natasha purses her lips at the name and the tone, Clint stiffening beside her.  He narrows his eyes at Bucky, connecting the dots to what Natasha's told him.  Steve is the only one looking confused, looking between the three as the van jumps from a pothole.

Natasha nods her head.  "I know, but she can be dangerous," she says, looking at the wolf's claws that are on show.  Bucky narrows his eyes, but he's not the only one as Steve narrows his eyes, too.

"She only attacked those against her, Nat.  We'll see how dangerous she is when we get back to the base."  His tone is authoritative and to the point, his tone clipped and somewhat cold.  Everyone in the van knows he's thinking about Bucky when he says this.

The van is silent the rest of the way to the base.  Nick Fury, Bruce, and Tony are standing outside when the van comes to a stop.  The back doors open and everyone immediately files out, Natasha and Clint the first ones to step out.

Bucky is the last to get out with the wolf in his arms.  He doesn't stumble as he steps out of the van, now knowing what to expect from her weight.  The three men glance at the wolf with disbelief.

"I thought she was pulling on my leg," Nick mutters, referring to Natasha who told them about the little... incident with the girl.  "The girl actually turned into a wolf?"

Bucky nods his head as he and Steve follow the three men to Tony and Bruce's lab.  They go down an elevator and step into a very disorganized and cluttered area.  Bruce takes the lead and brings them to an examination/hospital room with pale green walls and white tiled flooring.

"You can put her there," Bruce says, nodding his head to the bed.  It's softer than the ones at a regular hospital.  He gently lays the girl's body on the table, removing her torn sweater from her head.

Bruce frowns at the blood on the wolf's blonde fur coat.  "Injuries?" he asks Steve and Bucky.

"Her head's got a cut on it and I'm sure she's got a few bruises," Bucky tells him.  Bruce frowns and looks at the other bits of blood on her.

"Are you sure she's not hurt anywhere else?  She's got blood everywhere," Bruce says, lifting up her head and looking at the blood under her nose and around her mouth.

He shakes his head.  Bruce nods his head cleans the cut on her head, wincing slightly as the sleeping animal whines in pain.  "Did you stick her with any tranqs?  She's moving a lot."

"We did.  Three," Steve says, looking away from the girl's body.  He nods his head at all three of the men's disbelieving looks.  "She was hopped up on adrenaline." He shrugs somewhat and looks as Tony who's talking with Fury.

"Any of you know when wolfie's gonna turn back?" Tony says, looking at the girl's body.  At the negative from everyone, he looks at Bruce.  "You still got those emergency serums for when the green monster takes over?"

Although he seems reluctant, Bruce nods.  "Yeah," he says, gesturing to his desk.  "I always keep them over there."  Tony grabs one of the syringes and hands it to Bruce.

They go to administer some of the serum before a cough stops them.  "What, Capsicle?" Tony asks in exasperation.

"You might want to, uhh..."  he says, rubbing the back of his head as his ears turn pink.  "You might wan' a girl to do it.  Her clothes tore off when she transformed."

"Oh..."


	14. Chapter 14

**Helping**

She feels groggy as the world comes back to her and she immediately knows that she's no longer in her home.  Her eyes snap open, only to close shut at the bright light above her.  She blinks her eyes open slowly to allow herself to adjust to the bright light above her.

She lifts her hand to the back of her head as it throbs lightly, muttering under her breath at the pain.   _What happened?_  she asks herself, frowning as she tries to remember what happened.

 _I ran into my neighbor and I left the apartments to get food, but what happened after that?_ She sits up sharply as she looks around her, remembering that HYDRA must have found her.

The room's plain but she knows that she can't be with HYDRA.  The room's too welcoming and warm, unlike the cold, plain white examination rooms she's used to.  She goes to lift her other hand up, but her wrist snags on something.

Her heart races as she blinks at the small handcuff holding her arm to the bed rail.  Along with that, she sees that she's also not wearing her sweater.  She draws her knees up to her chest as she sees that she's dressed in a hospital robe.

 _Who dressed me!?_  she hisses into her mind, remembering how she ended up shifting after fighting off the men with her neighbor.   _Who has a metal hand..._  she thinks, the thought nudging towards something in the back of her mind.

Her head hurts too much to think properly.  She tries to calm herself as her body begins to tremble in fear and she swallows at the claustrophobic feeling the thin handcuff is giving her.

Her head snaps towards the metal door as she hears a few different pairs of feet running to where she's currently located.  She can't focus enough to see how many people there are and she can't catch anything but the dull scents of foreign people, chemicals, and her blood.

Her breathing becomes labored as she puts her one arm over her head.  She curls in on herself as short shuddering breaths leave her.  She hears a few beeps before the metal door slides open.

She flinches at the metallic sound, clutching at her ears as it screeches out.  She whimpers at the pain.  The people who were running towards her stop at the entrance of the door.  She doesn't hear anyone move towards her and her breathing becomes a little less erratic.

Her body is tense as she presses herself to the wall.  "She's having a panic attack," she hears a low voice mutter.  Her body trembles more at that as she feels someone walk towards her.

" _Touch me and I'll tear your throat out_ ," she hisses out in Russian as she senses a hand move towards her.  Her eyes, turning a gold color from the burning she feels, narrow at the hand.

"What'd she say?" she hears a voice ask and she moves her narrowed eyes to a man dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with brown hair and a small beard.  She keeps the man with the graying hair in her peripheral as she glares at the younger one.

She also notices that her neighbor, a man she vaguely recognizes as freaking  _Captain America,_ and the woman with red hair from earlier are also standing there as well.  "She said, 'touch me and I'll tear your throat out," the red-haired woman says, amusement shown in her eyes despite her serious posture.

The man with the graying hair immediately walks away with his hands held up, once again making her flinch at the motion.  "Oh, feisty," the man with the brown hair says.  By the glowing thing in his chest, she realizes that he's the one and only Tony Stark who, she heard about before being taken.

She bares her teeth at him, growling softly.  "You might want to stop talking, Tony," Captain America says, staring at Tony with a dull face.

"Yes," she says, her voice gravely from the growl.  "Please do."  Generally, she'd refrain from making these remarks, especially since she's handcuffed to a bed and is surrounded, but she's feeling a bit aggressive.  An aftereffect from her recent shift, she's come to learn.

Tony opens his mouth to says something, though a hand smacking the side of his heads stops him from doing so.  The hand in question belongs to the only woman in the room.  She gives her a pleased nod before tugging on the handcuff a bit.

The woman gives her a small smirk.  Her body is still trembling somewhat as she presses herself further against the wall behind her and the bed rail beside her.

"That must not be comfortable," Captain America says, gesturing to her position against the wall.  In truth, it's extremely painful from the bruises along her back and the aching in her muscles from her sudden shift.

She just narrows her eyes at him and tugs on the handcuff a bit more.  "You're not going to be able to break that," Tony says, nodding at the handcuff.

She narrows her eyes at him and still looking at him, moves her free hand over to the cuff.  Her finger hooks around it and she pulls both of her hands away from each another.  The cuff breaks and she rubs her loose wrist, head tilted to the side mockingly.

"Well, then."  She wraps both of her arms around her knees protectively.  She eyes them all warily.

"Who dressed me?"  she asks, shifting her eyes to all of the males in the room.

"Don't worry," the woman says, taking a step forward.  "I changed you."  She nods her head appreciatively, pursing her lips slightly.  That means that she would have seen her scars, something she'd rather not have anyone see.

"Thank you," she says softly, shifting around as her back begins to ache.  Her headache is nearly non-existent now, but she's still feeling a bit panicky at the people surrounding her.  "Why am I here?"  She looks at her neighbor at this, her one hand rubbing the prisoner number on her wrist.

He clears his throat slightly.  "We were hoping you could give us information about HYDRA," he says lowly, nodding towards her wrist.  She flinches at the name, tensing up as she remembers the men she killed.

She grimaces at the blood beneath her nails, now feeling the blood coating her hair.  The blood around her mouth and nose had been cleaned, but she can still taste it and feel it on her back and legs.

She looks at the comforter on the bed, thinking it over.  She'd be happy to help them find HYDRA, but for what it's worth, she's not sure how she'll survive all of the questions.  "You don't have to share anything that you don't want to," Captain America says reassuringly.

She bites her lip, wincing at the cut there.  "O... Okay.  As long as I don't have to share anything personal," she tells them.  "Can I get a shower and some new clothes?"

"Of course."


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been rewritten!

**Questions**

"How about you start with your name?" Nick Fury asks the girl, leaning back in his chair.  They're all seated around the map of HYDRA bases in the conference room.  Despite the easy question, the girl shifts around in her chair, pulling at the long sleeved shirt she had been given to wear.

He watches her silently from the corner of the room as she shifts nervously in the chair, her lower lip pulled between her teeth in a nervous tick.  "It doesn't have to be your real name," Clint cuts in, making Fury give him a small glare.  "We just need to know what to call you."

He notices that her nervous fidgeting relaxes at that and some of the tension leaves her shoulders.  "O-Okay," she says softly, nodding her head.  "You can call me Eden."  He knows that the name isn't her real name, though it must be some sort of nickname with how she answered the question without hesitating too long.

"Okay, Eden," Fury says, writing the name on a piece of paper.  The whole conversation, including the room, is being recorded to be looked at later, though Fury seems to like having the information at his hands.

"Age?"  Bucky notices how Eden blinks a few times, her having to think actually about the question for a few moments.  He remembers being in her shoes when he had to become accustomed to a whole new world and had to actually try and figure out how old he was because he couldn't remember.

"I turned twenty-one in late July."  There's a silent 'I think' at the end of that that he can detect.  She nods as if confirming it to herself before Fury writes it down and asks her the next question.

"When were you taken?"  Fury asks her.  He notices how she tenses up at the question.  "How old were you?"  Eden looks down at her fingers as her eyebrows pull forward.  He knows she most likely doesn't remember much from his own experience.

She sucks in a shuddering breath.  "I don't remember the exact date, though it was after I graduated high school before my seventeenth birthday," Eden states, head angled downwards as she tries to remember what happened when she was taken.

"You graduated when you were sixteen?" Fury asks for confirmation.  He raises a brow when she nods.

"I skipped a grade, forget which, though," the girl says, shrugging her shoulders at Fury's curious look.  Bucky knows that it's only the partial truth, though.  He can tell by the way she tensed up before the shrug.

"Do you remember how you were taken?  There was no possibility that a family member could have seen what happened?"  Eden looks up in the question and he clenches his jaw at the look in her dark brown eyes.

They're cold with amusement that truly doesn't have any humor in it.  "I ran away from home," she says with a cold chuckle, her eyes turning to a lighter color.  "I didn't feel like making friends and I lived on my own."  He narrows his eyes at her answer, it obvious that she's not fond of sharing much information on the subject.

"And for remembering?"  Eden's lips curl in a snarl.  "I remember none of it.  Just pain."  Everyone in the room is silent at her cold and sharp words.

"How long were you with HYDRA?" Steve asks, almost reluctantly.  It sounds as if he doesn't want to know the answer based on her previous statement, but they need to know how long because it may give them a new base to check out.

"Four years."  Bucky's hand buzzes slightly as he tightens it into a fist.  While compared to his seventy-something years with HYDRA, it doesn't seem like much.  However, he had spent most of it, save for a year or two, on ice, while she was just kept prisoner and conscious.

It seems like Steve feels the same way by the way his shoulders tense and his jaw clenches.  Fury writes down the information on the piece of paper before looking at Eden almost hesitantly.

"Are you fine for another few questions or do you want to wait for tomorrow?"  It's clear Nick wants all of the information as soon as possible, but he's concerned about prying too much information out of the girl too soon.

Her eyes clench shut, and by the way she takes a deep breath as if to steady herself, he knows that she knows what the next question's going to be.  "Just ask," she growls out softly, her hands balling into fists.

"What do you remember about being with HYDRA?"  It's as if a switch has been flicked and her body moves from its somewhat curled up position to a ramrod straight and tense position.

"Not much," she says through her teeth.  By the forced tone of her voice, he knows that she's most likely forcing herself to say the words.  "The first few months are a blur of blackness and varying stages of pain and confusion.  I had a bit of trouble translating what they were saying, as I hadn't spoken or heard Russian since I was a young child."

She suddenly frowns. "I remember that I was either strapped down to a metal chair or table being prodded at with needles, or..."  She closes her eyes and sucks in a shuddering breath.  "Or, they were beating me."  She doesn't open his eyes.

Bucky's hands tighten considerably as his tense posture turns to that of a statue.  Beside him, Steve isn't faring well, either.  His eyes are narrowed and his muscles are trembling in place.

"They  _beat_  you?" Natasha spits out, her voice full of venom that half of the people in the room, including Eden, flinch from it.  " _Why_?"

Eden opens her eyes and some of the group blink in shock or confusion.  Her eyes are no longer dark brown, but gold.  Bucky knows that means that Eden must be getting too overwhelmed.  He remembers the aggression she showed after waking up.

"At first, I didn't know why," Eden says, almost calmly in a soft tone.  "They took pleasure in it, though.  I know that much."  Her lips suddenly turn into a cold smirk as she tilts her head to the side.  "Too bad for them that I was, and still am, pretty accustomed to pain."

He stands still as he watches how her mood seems to change easily, from calm to cold and tense to stone.  He remembers feeling the same way.

"I think they were trying to draw out the wolf in me," Eden says before anyone can comment on her last statement, her voice back to that soft calm tone.  "One of the first experiments they did cause me to shift for the first time."

Her eyes shift to the stainless steel of the table where the map isn't placed.  Before she turned away, however, he caught something in her eyes.  A feeling that he's so familiar with that it causes a feeling akin to someone squeezing his heart in his chest.

Grief and self-loathing.  "I killed people."  The statement is so low, soft, and calm that he's surprised that anyone could hear it.  However, the words made it seem as if she screamed them into a megaphone.

"The scientists were too close to me when my instincts took over," she further explains, beginning to curl in on herself.  "The transformation caused so much pain and I was so _angry_  and  _in pain_ , that I kind of blacked out...

"When I woke up, back in my human shape, I knew almost immediately what happened.  I could  _taste_  the blood in my mouth, on my tongue.  I could  _feel_  it covering my face and my hands..."

Her body is trembling, her eyes wide as they shine a bright gold, unleashed tears making them shine even brighter.  "That is the only full memory I have."


	16. Chapter 16

**Control**

"The other memories I have are just flickers and a dull sense of random things that may or may not have happened," Eden quickly adds on, fidgeting at the stressed and shocked silence in the room.  "Most of the events kind of melded together because the same thing happened over and over again, and I'm pretty sure at least a fifth of my time there was unconscious..."

Eden bites her lip as she sucks in a deep breath, willing the tears in her eyes to go away.  She can feel everyone's eyes on her and she can practically  _feel_  their rage and shock and anguish that they are feeling from her words.

She rolls her shoulders slightly and moves into a more comfortable and not curled up position.  She hadn't even realized that she was making herself smaller.  She looks up hesitantly and hides a grimace of their wide and narrowed eyes.

She looks at Fury who's jaw is clenched shut and his grip on his pen and notebook are so tight that she's surprised he hasn't broken them yet.  "Uh-umm...  I think that's all I remember at my time there.  I do remember a few different instances in where they'd speak freely around me.

"I don't think they thought that I spoke Russian that well.  Only just the bare basics by the orders they'd sometimes give me."  Eden rolls her eyes at this.  As if she'd listen to what they told her to do.  "Yeah... I didn't listen to them so that kinda measured up to more beatings..."

"You made it so they beat you?" Steve asks her, thoroughly confused.  She can understand why he's confused, though.  They were already beating her for seemingly no reason and she just gave them more reason to beat her.

Eden shrugs her shoulders, the thought unimportant to her.  "I wasn't going to let them have that much control over me," she says coldly, her eyes still a fierce yellow.  "I didn't have a say in much, so I retaliated when I could.  I don't care that it brought me more pain."

She sees a few of them give her admiring looks for enduring all of the pain and she can't help but shrink at their gazes.  "Next question?" she asks, tilting her head to the side.  She ignores the somewhat concerned looks that a few of the people around the table give her.

"I think we're done for today," Nick says reluctantly, standing up from the table.  He flips the notebook so the cover is up front.  "We'll speak more tomorrow, Eden."  At that, he turns on his heel and walks out of the room.

She fidgets in her chair, somewhat confused at his abrupt departure.  "What...  What now?" she asks hesitantly, turning to properly face the Avengers in the room.

"Well," Tony says, standing up.  "I can show you where you'll be staying."  Eden looks at Tony with a scowl on her face.

"Why?" she asks, her tone flat.  Tony tilts his head to the side.

"So you know where to sleep tonight."  She narrows her eyes at the billionaire, annoyed at him.  For some reason, Eden's just not fond of him.  It could have to do with what happened when she first woke up, though.

"I meant why am I staying here?" she asks, her tone cold and sharp.  She tilts her head to the side, standing as well.  "I have a perfectly good apartment."

Tony just sighs as if he expected this reaction from her.  "HYDRA most likely knows where you live and we'd all prefer if you were safe and out of harm's way."  She growls softly in the back of her throat, claws growing from her fingers and scratching the table.

"It's for your safety," Captain America says, drawing Eden's attention from the infuriating man.  "We don't need you to be attacked tonight, or any other night for the matter."  Her pupils shrink at her annoyance, showing off the unnatural gold of her eyes.

Her jaw clenches, and she ignores the pain in her teeth.  She knows that her canines are growing in her increasing emotions, and Eden knows that the last thing she needs is to shift into the wolf side of her.

She can feel eyes on her and she shifts her gaze to the side of her, tilting her head in question.  "Yes?" she asks softly to the man with the graying hair.   _I think I heard someone call him 'Bruce' earlier..._

"Take deep breaths," he instructs her softly, causing her to shift around in her standing position at the soft order.  "It'll calm you down.  I don't think any of us will appreciate it if you turned again."  She frowns slightly, though nods to show that she understands.

She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths, feeling her muscles begin to untense and the aching in her gums lessen as her canines shrink.  The burning in her eyes lessens and she knows that they're most likely turning into a darker color close to her natural brown.

"Thanks," she says softly, blushing at her obvious lack of control.  "I don't really know how to control it..."  She shrinks at the understanding in his eyes.

"Don't worry about that, Eden," he tells her, standing up as well.  "I can help you with that."  She watches as he walks out of the room in confusion, two people following him out.  The red-haired woman from earlier and the man from earlier, the one who shot her with the tranquilizer darts.

The rest of the people in the room are Tony, Captain America, and her neighbor.  They're all staring at her until Tony speaks up again.

"You'll be staying in the 'apartment' across from his," he nods at her neighbor who scowls at him.  "Yes, you'll be staying here, too, Barnes.  You're a target, too."  Her neighbor just scowls at him and speaks to Captain America.

Eden stares at him for a few seconds before her eyes widen in realization.  " _You're the Winter Soldier?_ " she asks him in disbelief, turning to Russian to ask the question.  Everyone save for her and the Asset know the language well enough.

His eyes snap to her wide ones as his body stiffens from its position next to Captain America.  He slowly nods as an answer to her question and her lips part in shock.  Eden ignores the eyes of the three confused people in the room as she continues to speak to her neighbor.

" _HYDRA is looking for you, Sargent,_ " she tells him, recalling how they spoke about trying to find him freely.  " _They want you back._ "  She notices how he clenches his fists and she looks at his left arm in confusion and intrigue.

" _I know,_ " he tells her, jaw clenched.  " _I'm not the only one._ "  She nods her head, today being a perfect example at who they want back.  The men must have not expected to run into two of their targets on the same day, probably the reason as to why they only had seven men there and they only approached her.

"I read about you in the museum," she tells him, switching to English at the annoyed look Tony is sending the two of them.  "I never really expected to meet you, let alone have you as my neighbor."  Her shocked and serious tone turns amused.

She notices how his lips turn up slightly in amusement before Tony draws their attention.  "Okay, wolfie," he says, making her scowl at the nickname.  "Let's get you to your  _temporary_ apartment.  We can gather both of your things tomorrow."


	17. Chapter 17

**Silent Night**

Bucky sits in the common area where his "apartment" sits in the base.  Each residential area has a kitchen and a common area where the people living there can hang out together or watch television.

Despite the fact that his area, along with the apartment across from him, which has been claimed by Eden, have their own little living room and kitchen, there is still a large common area along with a small bar with a small fridge instead of a full kitchen.

He's laying down on the couch, staring outside through the large window.  It's facing the forest on this side of the building and he can see some of the trees tipping at the force of the wind.  The wind's so loud that he can practically hear it.

He's thinking over everything that happened today.  He had gone out for a run early in the morning and had bumped into his neighbor, literally, who he hadn't seen one bit since moving in two weeks prior.

He had then saved her from a group of HYDRA men, only to have Clint dart her with tranquilizers because she turned into a  _freaking wolf_ and could have attacked them.  Then hours after when she woke up, he had to sit there and listen to her tell everyone what happened to her with HYDRA.

It only made Bucky more infuriated than ever.  Not only at the fact that it was HYDRA, but at the fact that they practically  _tortured_  her for four years straight.

He had been surprised when Eden started talking to him.  He had expected her to fear him, especially with the fact that she knew what he had done when under HYDRA's control.

But, she was only mildly curious about him.  Amused even to learn that him, a ninety-something-year-old, who looks to be in his early-to-mid twenties, is her neighbor.  Eden had shocked him.  Especially when she had initially refused to stay at the base where it's safe.

He had had a feeling that he had to stay at the base, along with her, though he hadn't expected her to feel so strongly about being kept here as he did.  He had thought that she feels the same as he does, despite not saying it.  She feels like a prisoner here, too.

He doesn't lift his head when he hears Eden's door open and close and her sock-clad feet pad against the ground softly.  Bucky turns his head to the side and spots her walk through the opening to the common room.

He watches as she freezes when she spots him laying on the couch in the dark before walking towards the water faucet.  Eden rummages around in the cupboards a bit, mumbling under her breath.

"Cups're above the sink," he points out, making her jump about a foot in the air from the sudden noise.  Bucky's lip tilts up in a quick smirk at her jumpiness before it smooths out from his exhaustion.  She nods her head in thanks and grabs a cup out of the sink.  Eden fills it with water before turning and leaning against the counter, sipping at the water in the cup.

"'M pretty sure the beds are comfier than that couch," she points out softly as he looks over at her in curiosity.  Bucky doesn't say anything but nods his head slightly to show that he heard her.

"Feels too soft, doesn't it?" she asks, walking over to one of the large armchairs beside the couch.  He doesn't show it, but her statement surprises him.  "You feel like you're sinkin'."

He nods his head again.  That's exactly what it feels like.  During his time with HYDRA, and even his few months out of HYDRA's custody, he either slept on the ground or on a very hard mattress.

One of the reasons he is having trouble sleeping is because he thinks the beds are too soft, too big, and too plushy.  His body kind of just sinks a bit and it doesn't feel sturdy.  It feels like he might end up falling off or through it at any point in time.

He doesn't tell her any of that, though.

She sips on her water, staring out at the forest through the window.  Bucky notices how her wide brown eyes take on a shiny, almost golden gleam.  It almost seems as if they are glowing in the dark.

Maybe they are.

Eden seems to be calm enough in the chair beside him.  She's not sitting too close to him, but she's not sitting too far from him.  It's a good space between them.  Bucky can't help but think that she's left the space between them just in case he decides to try an attack her, though.

He stares at her longer out of the corner of his eyes and notices how her muscles, while looking relaxed enough, are tight.  Ready to move should she need to.  Her shoulders and head is dipped down in what seems to be exhaustion.

After a few more seconds of looking at her tired form, he turns his head away.  He stares out at the moon that is nearly covered by the trees.  It's late enough that it's not too high in the sky.

"Can't sleep?" he finally asks, his voice coming in a low, rough rumble from disuse.  He notices that all of her muscles tensed at the sudden noise and are slowly relaxing again.  She pauses a few seconds before shaking her head.

"Too much on my mind," she says softly, her voice sounding extremely innocent.  Bucky knows that the thoughts that are in her mind are not innocent.   _She's most likely thinkin' about her time with HYDRA._ "What about you?"

He takes a few moments to respond, hesitant about telling Eden anything about himself.  Bucky contemplates lying for a second before he throws the thought away.  "Too much on my mind, too," he tells her, his voice low, but loud enough that she can hear him.

Eden doesn't say anything after that and they both continue looking at the window.  He almost thinks she fell asleep with how still she is before she turns to him, her glowing dark brown eyes staring into his dark icy pair.

"Were you asked to babysit me?" she asks him.  He knows that she's not offended with the thought as her voice has amusement in it.  He just lifts an eyebrow at her and she dips her head down in what he deems to be embarrassment.  "I mean, were you asked to keep an eye on me, just in case...?"

Her voice trails off as she looks away from him.  He leans up on his elbows as he looks over at her shrunken form.  "They asked me to make sure you don't hurt yourself," he tells her, his voice calm.  "No one wants you to get injured, that's all."

It's silent for a few moments as he leans back, his hands behind his head.  "Oh, okay," she says.  He doesn't need to look over at her to know that she's looking at him.  "Thank you...?"

She trails off and he knows that she doesn't know what to call him.  His lip tips up in momentary amusement.  "Bucky."

"Thank you, Bucky."


	18. Chapter 18

**Friday**

Eden frowns at the ache in her neck as she shifts around.  She lifts her head up slightly, the sound of birds chirping waking her up more.  She blinks her eyes open, looking around her.

She tilts her head to the side as she looks out of the large window in the common area, her eyebrows pulled down in momentary confusion.   _I fell asleep?_  Eden questions herself, looking down at her lap.

The glass that she drank out of last night is nowhere to be seen and there's a small blanket covering her legs and upper body.  Her ears turn warm as she realizes that her neighbor, Bucky, must have put it on her.

She turns her head to the side, not surprised to see that he's no longer laying on the couch.   _I wonder when he left and when I fell asleep..._   She rubs her eyes from the slight sting there and yawns, stretching out her body.

A small groan leaves her lips as she curls in on herself, blinking at the window sleepily.  Eden's surprised to see that it's pretty early by the lack of light coming through the window.  A quick glance at the one digital clock tells her that she's right.  It's only about six in the morning.

She stills in her seat as she realizes that she has work in an hour.   _Am I even allowed to go to work?_  she asks herself, scowling down at the carpeted ground.  She stands from her chair and folds the blanket, placing it in her place.

She tip-toes to her little apartment, unsure if Bucky's asleep or not.   _Probably not,_  she thinks to herself, closing her door behind her.   _He was out pretty early yesterday._

She doesn't bother looking for clothing to wear as she heads towards the bathroom, set on a shower.  She had gotten two yesterday, though she still feels a little dirty from her fight yesterday.

Eden strips, making sure that there are towels to dry herself off with, before looking at the shower.  She blinks slowly at it.  She pokes a few of the buttons on the shower, curious as to what they do.

Apparently, the showers here aren't normal.  "How do I work this thing?" she mutters to herself, scowling as the water stops pouring from the overhead showerhead.

 _"Would you like me to turn on the shower for you, Ms. Eden?"_  a female automated voice asks, making Eden yelp out in shock as she flinches away from the shower.  It only takes her a few seconds before she realizes that this is the AI that Tony was talking about this.

"Uh..." she says, staring at the speaker in the corner of the room.  "Yes please?"  She ignores the feeling of how weird it is to talk to an AI before she sighs in relief as the water begins to run as normally as she expected it to.

She feels the water's temperature, humming in satisfaction as she jumps into it.  She just stands there for a few moments, relishing in the constant stream of heat.  She really hasn't felt something like this in a  _long_  time.

A few minutes go past of her soaking up the warm water before she begins to clean herself.  She hisses as she accidentally runs her hand over the bruise on the back of her head.  The cut has healed, though there's a nasty bruise that should hopefully be healed within the next day.

She reluctantly asks the AI, who she remembers Tony calling 'Friday', to turn off the water as she steps out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her body.  It doesn't take her long to towel dry her hair and body before she hesitantly steps out of the warm bathroom into the cold of her temporary bedroom.

She trembles somewhat as she walks over to the dresser.  Tony had told her that he had gotten someone to buy her some clothing based on the sizes of her clothing from yesterday.

She flushes at the somewhat skimpy undergarments, hoping that no one other than a girl saw them.  She doesn't even think that stops the embarrassment, though.  She pulls on a pair of jeans and a sweater, this one being a dark blue compared to her dark orange one from yesterday.

She cleans up a bit in the bathroom, using the toilet and brushing her hair before she slips on a pair of boots.  Thankfully, they are the same boots she already had.

"Friday?" Eden asks hesitantly, unsure if there are microphones and speakers in the common area.  She's relieved when the AI answers.  "Do you know if any of the Avengers are awake?"

 _"Captain Rogers, Sargent Barnes, Lieutenant General Wilson, Dr. Banner, and Agent Romanoff are currently awake.  Is that all, ma'am?"_   The AI says, making Eden tilt her head in curiosity at the one name that she doesn't recognize from yesterday or at all.

"Hmm..." she thinks, staring out at the large window.  She doesn't care that she is currently talking to the AI, and is basically spying on the Avengers, as she can't hear anyone remotely close to this section of the base.  "Am I allowed to go to work?"

Friday immediately responds.  _"Mr. Stark advises that neither you nor Sargent Barnes leave the Avengers Facility for your own safety, ma'am."_   Eden owns slightly, sighing as she partially expected the answer before even asking the question.

"Do you think you can contact Mr. Stark?" Eden asks Friday, beginning to walk out of the common area to the Avenger's living quarters.  She had learned yesterday that a whole section of the building is dedicated strictly to Avengers members.

Tony had told her yesterday that while her and Bucky's apartments are on the opposite side of the building, she's still allowed to travel to all the separate gyms and recreation rooms meant for people who are strictly on the Avengers team.

She wracks her memory as she lets her feet carry her down the hallway and towards the Avenger's area.  Before being taken by HYDRA, she had originally been  _okay_  at various directions and finding her way to areas, but she feels that the experiments HYDRA performed on her made her more accustomed to figuring a layout of an area.  She pins it on her wolf instincts.

 _"I can take a message for Mr.Stark,"_  Friday tells her, her voice echoing down the hall as Eden makes her way to the gym, where she expects to find the people she's looking for.

"Can you tell him that I want to know when I can gather my things from my apartment?  I also need to speak with him as soon as possible, please," Eden says, turning down a hallway to avoid the agents in the adjacent hallway.

 _"I'll contact Mr. Stark as soon as he's awake, ma'am,"_ Friday tells Eden, making her purse her lips slightly.  She'd rather talk to Stark as soon as possible, but considering he's still asleep, she'll have to deal with calling work and telling them she'll have to take a week or so off.

"Thank you, Friday."  Eden pulls out her phone, which had been placed on her nightstand for her, and dials the number of her manager.  Her manager's a kinder old man who can admittedly be a hard-ass at times, especially when someone calls off work unexpectedly.

"Mr. Wright?" she asks, wincing at how kiddish she sounds.  "It's me, Eden.  I know it's really sudden, but I don't think I'll be able to come to work for a while..."


	19. Chapter 19

**The Gym**

Bucky’s in one of the gyms located near one of the outdoor running tracks, pummeling one of the enhanced, steel-infused punching bags that have been created specifically towards Steve, himself, and Thor when he visits.

Steve’s currently sparring against Sam, who is attempting to hold his own. He’s not struggling too hard, though it’s obvious Steve’s not going full out for his sake.

Bucky likes the feel of driving his fists, his flesh hand wrapped and his metal hand without its glove, into the bag. Last night after he’d almost fallen asleep on the couch a few minutes after Eden had, he had shaken himself out of the exhaustion and had retreated to his room, not before covering Eden with a small blanket and taking her glass, however.

He had been surprised when she had fallen asleep in his company or had even fallen asleep at all. He had learned that she has nightmares just as he does, it being evident by the very muted screams that he heard through the thick wall that they shared back at their apartments.

Not only that, but it was obvious that she was wary of him. Not only wary of him but of everyone else, too. Apparently, it didn’t matter to her that they saved her from getting captured by HYDRA again, and he honestly doesn’t blame her.

When he had first arrived at the base, he had refused to even be in the same room as someone else unless Steve was with him. He didn’t trust anybody, maybe save for Sam and Clint somewhat, but that was all.

So when she had not only joined him in the common room but  _fell asleep_  near him without a care in the world, he hadn’t expected it.

Bucky throws the punches harder and harder, testing himself. He’s done this ever since coming here, and honestly, he likes the feeling. He likes the soreness in his knuckles. It doesn’t compare to the feeling of an actual fight, but he makes due.

Every once in a while, Steve would convince him to have a go at it, but he wouldn’t bring the subject up himself. Bucky doesn’t want to admit it, but he doesn’t want to hurt Steve. Not again.

He doesn’t draw his focus from the bag as the door opens, thinking that it’s Natasha or maybe even Clint. He stops punching as Steve’s voice echoes throughout the gym, “Eden?” Bucky stretches as he turns to the sheepish looking girl.

She waves shyly, her eyes flickering over to him for a moment with a small smile before she refocuses on Steve. “Hi,” she says, her voice quiet and sheepish. “I just wanted to see what’s gonna to happen today since I can’t go to work...”

Her voice takes on a barely-there bitter tone as her eyebrows pull forward in a slight scowl, making amusement shoot through him even though he’s sort of in the same situation. Bucky sees Steve and Sam share a small glance, friendly smiles on their faces. “You’re fine to join us,” Sam says, his eyes flickering over her clothing. “Though, you’ll have to change.”

Even from his distance across the room, Bucky can see the small blush coating her pale cheeks. “I don’t think I have any athletic gear on hand...” she says, ducking her head as Sam chuckles at her. “I didn’t see anythin’ in my dresser and the rest of my stuff is still at my apartment.”

The two share glances again before nodding towards the women’s locker room. “Natasha usually stashes a few extra pairs of training gear,” Steve says, that familiar friendly smile still on his face. “’Don’t think she’d mind if you’d borrow some.”

Bucky continues watching her, eyes flickering from his hand where he’s fixing the wraps around his knuckles to her fidgeting form. His eyes linger on her lips for a few moments as she blushes, biting at them. He can swear that she  _knows_  that’s where he’s looking.

She glances at him and he looks away, focusing back on his punching bag. “Okay,” she says. “I think I’m just gonna run, though.” Bucky hears her begin to walk towards the locker room and he focuses on the punching bag, shifting fluidly into the proper stance.

He hears Sam and Steve mutter some things too low for him to hear before they begin fighting. He punches the bag a few times, moving his left shoulder a bit. He’d never admit it to anyone, but this shoulder is sometimes sore from where the metal of his arm meets his body.

Everyone at Wakanda had done a good job at attaching his new arm. They had to put him under in order to do it since it actually had to be connected to his nervous system, which was  _extremely_  painful from what he could remember when HYDRA had done the procedure.

Apparently, they had also taken it upon themselves to mess with the scars on his shoulder as well. They had removed a lot of the scar tissue that was causing a lot of pain and was constantly itchy, and had even done something to the area.

He doesn’t know what they did exactly, but all he knew was that his shoulder no longer hurt and only got a little sore at times from the weight pulling at his skin. He’d been given strict instructions from his main overseer, Shuri, that he was to rub some sort of medication over the area a few times to week.

He had given up the second week here because he couldn’t reach a lot of the area. Now, he is paying for it with the slight ache. It’s not too annoying and doesn’t hurt that much, but it does make him frustrated at times.

Bucky rolls his head around moves his shoulder around before punching at the bag, again. He doesn’t turn around when he hears a door opening it, recognizing it as the door to the locker rooms.

He can hear her walk towards the indoor track that surrounds the equipment and start running on it. He tucks a few strands of hair that fell out of his man bun behind his hair, ignoring the snickering that Sam sends his way.

He’s been doing that ever since seeing Bucky this morning, and it’s safe to say he’s blocking anything the brown-skinned man says at this point. His eyes flicker upwards as he feels eyes on him.

Eden’s not looking at him when he sees her run in front of him, somewhat blocked by his punching bag, though he knows she was the one staring at him. He watches her jog for a few moments, watching the way she keeps a fluid stride.

It’s not like the uneasy gait she had yesterday, though he has a feeling that had to do with the aftereffects of her shift and the tranquilizer that was still in her system. His eyes shift away from her as he punches the bag again.

Not even a minute goes by when he feels her eyes on him again. A minute later and she comes into his field of vision, this time at a nice clip instead of jogging. He has a feeling that she’s testing the waters of running. He doesn’t remember seeing her out of her apartment and doing anything physical other than her job, though he’s impressed when she runs a few laps, not seeming to be tired out.

He tries to shrug off her burning gaze as Steve and Sam leave the room, throwing jokes at one another. He doesn’t hear the words they send to Eden, too distracted by her lingering gaze.

Two more laps and he lifts his head as she runs by. She’s too slow to turn her head away again as he lifts an eyebrow. He watches as she seems to consider something before she slows her run and jogs over to him, stopping a few feet from his right at the red punching bags that are for normal people.

He watches as she fidgets in the sports clothing, looking over her form. She’s much smaller than he originally thought, Natasha’s clothing being slightly baggy around certain parts.

The tank top, which hugs Natasha’s body perfectly, hangs down slightly from her short torso. The shorts she’s wearing aren’t too baggy on her, though he can see them hanging lower on her hips that she should be.

Bucky’s gaze flickers to her face and he takes notice of the blush rising on her face. “Uhm...” she mutters slightly, looking up into his eyes. She seems to freeze for a moment before she forces herself to say something. “I was wondering... Could you...?” she gestures to his wrapped knuckles to the punching bag in front of him.

He tips his head to the side, regarding the small girl curiously. “You want me to show you how to punch?” he says, his voice gravelly from not speaking this morning. She nods sheepishly, shifting on her feet.

“Yesterday made me realize that I need to learn how to defend myself,” she tells him, seeming to think that she needs an excuse to be taught how to defend herself. “I’ve only taken a few ‘self-defense’ classes, but they’ve only taught me how to get out of certain holds and how to escape a predator. Nothing like... that.”

She gestures towards the bag at her lame ending.

Bucky looks over her form and he can barely see the small amount of muscle tone she has on her arms and her legs.  _She’ll have to work hard to build more muscle_.While he doesn’t think that he’s the best person to teach her, not because he doesn’t think he’s capable, because he  _did_  teach Russia’s best assassins, but he doesn’t want to end up hurting her.

He looks into her wide brown doe eyes, blowing a puff of air out of his nose.  _She did approach_ me _, after all. Which is impressive, considering..._  he thought, watching her chew on her lip in nervousness.

Bucky nods his head sharply. “Okay.”


	20. Chapter 20

**_Smack_ **

"Watch."

Eden watches as Bucky throws a quick jab forward.  She watches how his feet are positioned and how his right arm, the one he's not punching with, is positioned by his side.  It's held in a way that protects his ribs.

He throws a few more jabs, his hips and torso turning with the movement.  Each time he throws a punch, his right foot, which is positioned back, pushes upwards.  Both feet never truly leave the ground, save for his right heel.

"You see how my hips and torso turn?" he asks, throwing a slow mock punch to demonstrate how much his body moves.  At her nod, he continues.  "It charges some of the power in the punch.  And do you see how my heel is positioned?"  She nods, looking at his heel which is currently about an inch or so off the ground.

Most of his weight is held on his left leg.  He retracts his arm from its 'thrown out' position and does the movement again in a quick snap.  This time, his fist connects with the punching bag with a  _smack_.

Eden's heart spikes at the sound, though it's not in fear.  It startled her, yes, though it's caused adrenaline to run through her veins.  Even though she wasn't even the one to throw the jab, the sound of it connecting with the bag sounded good.

"This leg," he says, gesturing towards his right leg that he had thrown himself forward with.  "It holds most of the momentum for the power of your punch. Both your hips and torso and your leg supply power, without that, you have this."'

He throws a jab forward, though his body barely moves, just his fist.  It barely hits the bag with a soft  _thud_.  She nods her head in understanding.  "So, most of the force in the punch is actually momentum?" she asks rhetorically.

Bucky nods his head.  "Correct.  Now," he says, his voice taking on a soft, but stern tone.  It makes her heart jump with nerves.  "Stand in the position to throw a punch."  She pauses a second before hesitantly copying the stance she saw him in earlier.

She's nervous and slightly embarrassed as she moves her right heel backward, holding her right fist back towards her ribs, with her left fist in front of it, positioned an inch or so ahead in front of her shoulder.

The stance is tense and she's embarrassed that she's doing it completely wrong.  "It's a start," Bucky says, his voice holding some praise that makes her feel even more embarrassed.  He doesn't say anything but walks towards her.  She hides the flinch when his hand raises and repositions her left arm over a bit more and straightens it out.

"You want your arm to be strong," he tells Eden, strengthening both of her arms positions.  "Both arms are to protect you."  He moves behind her and this time she  _does_  jump when he places his hands on her hips.  She looks down at them and she realizes just how  _big_  they are compared to her tiny form.  "Head up," he orders her softly.

Her head snaps upwards at his rough voice next to her ear, holding back a shiver as his warm breath brushes across her exposed ear, her hair thrown up in a ponytail.  His hands gently turn her hips so that her left side is forwards more.

His foot brushes against hers, making it jump forwards a bit.  "Loosen up a bit," Bucky tells her, stepping away from her.  She tries to relax, but can't.  "Bend your knees, like this," he says, fluidly moving into the position as if he were water flowing down a slope.

Eden sticks her tongue out slightly as she bends her knees, the movement letting her feel a bit bouncy.  Bucky moves towards her again and presses against her knees to straighten them out a bit more.

He walks around her, humming an affirmative.  "There," he says.  "Do you feel the strength this stance holds?  Your hips, torso, and legs provide power for your punch.  The movement should feel comfortable enough."  She nods her head and he continues.

"Go ahead and show me how to throw a punch, but not at the bag, at me."  Eden nervously bites her lip and throws a light punch.  She's started when his hand snaps out and grips her wrist.

He holds her arm out straight, turning it so that her elbow is faced outwards.  He also repositions how her fingers are curled in a fist.  "You want your arm straight and your fist to be like that," he says, softly guiding her arm back and forth in a jab.  "Do you feel how sturdy it is?"  She nods her head.

"Good," he tells her.  "You want your arm straight so you don't end up breaking your hand." She nods her head in understanding.  He takes a step back, arms held open slightly.  "Go ahead, thrown another punch at me."  She does and his eyes roam over her position.

"Bend your knees more," he orders and she immediately does it.  He gestures for her to throw another punch and her walks around her, watching as she moves.  She flushes a bit as he watches her throw another punch, embarrassed by his scrutiny.

He nods at the red punching bag for non-super-soldiers.  "Throw a punch."  Eden does as he says, taking position by the bag, and with a nod from him, she throws her wrapped fist out gently.

It thuds softly against the bag and she perks up at the connection she feels.  Bucky nods his head to tell her that she did it correctly.  "Again," he orders her.  "Harder."  She eagerly throws another punch and the bag swings at the force of it.

Eden smiles up at him, excitement and adrenaline rushing through her.  Without him having to tell her to do it again, she throws her hand forward.  Hard.  She ends up having to steady the bag as it swings roughly.

She sends Bucky a quick look, eyes wide as if she did something wrong.  His lip is quirked up in a momentary smirk.  "I guess you're stronger than we both expected."

She ducks her head down in a blush.  He gestures for her to stand in position again and she quickly does it, eager to punch again.  It gives her this insanely satisfying feeling when she hears the  _smack_  come from the bag.

"Again."


	21. Chapter 21

**That Damn Left-Hook**

Bucky leans against the wall in the common room, waiting for Eden to arrive. It’s been around two weeks since the two has started they’re secret combat training. This had become a routine for them.

They’d wake up early to get around an hour to themselves in the gym, to which he’d teach her how to throw different types of punches and combos, and even how to dodge them. Then, about ten or so minutes before Steve and Sam would arrive, they’d go to their own thing.

Eden usually heads straight to the track while Bucky heads over to the steel-infused punching bags to strengthen his punches. Then after about three hours or so, they’d wait for Sam and Steve to leave, in which they’d spend another hour training.

After that, they’d get cleaned up and would head to the cafeteria together. Bucky had noticed the third day that Eden seemed to get tired easily. He had noticed how the clothes that were supposed to be tight on her hung loose.

He had told her that if she didn’t eat at least two meals a day, then she’d get nowhere in her training. She had retorted by telling him that he needed to eat, too. He had been surprised that she spotted that he wasn’t eating well, but reluctantly agreed.

So, after dressing, they’d head to the cafeteria to eat breakfast together. At first, it had been awkward. The training agents wouldn’t stop staring at them as they had sat together and they ate, completely uncomfortable with their situation.

They stopped getting as much looks about the third day in, but there were still a few agents that gawked.

The whole routine started three days after the first training day. Eden had woken up early for some reason and had decided to head to the gyms for a jog. The two of them ended up leaving their apartments at the same time, both dressed in training gear.

They silently walked down the hall to the gym together where Eden had asked Bucky to give her a few pointers. The second day, Eden had woken up earlier and had waited in the common room for Bucky.

This happened every day, save for Saturday when they both took breaks from training. Bucky’s head snaps up as Eden walks into the common room, a sheepish smile on her face. “Sorry I’m late,” she says, ducking her head down at the smirk he shoots her.

He notices that they’ve both gotten more comfortable with one another. Normally, he wouldn’t even smile in public but here he is, sending her a  _smirk_. He shakes his head at her. “’S’fine,” he mumbles, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him out of the common room. (The common room links straight towards their apartments.) “I wasn’t waiting long.”

Her shoulders slump at that. “Good,” she mumbles sleepily, covering her mouth in a yawn. He gazes at her in understanding, having not slept well last night either. There had been a thunderstorm and he had nightmares last night about exploding shells from his time in the war.

By the dark marks beneath her eyes, he concludes that she must have had nightmares, too. He can’t tell for sure though, the rooms here much more soundproof than their old apartments, so he couldn’t hear if she was screaming or not.

The thunder covered it, too.

They walk down the hall in silence and he rushes in front of her to open the gym door for her. “Thanks,” she says softly, ducking her head down as a blush rises on her cheeks. He just smiles at her, proud at her blush.

“We’re going over your left-hook,” Bucky tells her, lifting an eyebrow as she smiles sheepishly. He tosses her his extra tape so she can wrap her knuckles. Eden inclines her head in thanks and he nods back, beginning to wrap the knuckles on his right hand.

He guides her over to the black, steel-infused punching bags. She had broken the one she had been using after a particularly strong combo. Eden is building muscle and he’s concluded that she’s stronger than the average human, containing strength much like Steve and himself.

He goes through the motions of the specific punch, slowly twisting his body to make sure she understands how her own body is supposed to look. His body is close to the bag and he hits the bag hard. It swings a bit, but he easily steadies it.

“You try,” he tells her, nodding towards the bag in front of her. He watches as she bites her lower lip in concentration, angling her body as he did. Eden throws a punch, but her stance is off, so it doesn’t connect properly.

She mutters under her breath in Russian, making his lip quirk in amusement at the cursing. He generally doesn’t like it when a dame, or anyone for the matter, cusses, though he can’t help but find it amusing to see the small girl cuss out in her frustration.

“Let me help you,” he says, positioning himself behind her. He barely acknowledges the way her small body feels against his, and positions his right hand on her hip. His other hand, his vibranium one, grasps her wrist gently, but strong enough so she can’t slip from his grip easily.

Eden’s practically pinned between the bag and himself as he nudges her body into the right movement. He can’t help but appreciate the warmth that comes off her, the gym cold so early in the morning.

He guides her through the motion a few times, before jumping as the gym door slams shut. He hadn’t even realized it had opened, too focused on showing Eden how to position herself to properly throw a left-hook.

The two jump apart, spinning around in surprise to see Steve and Sam with duffel bags in their hands, eyes wide in shock. The two are earlier than usual, so the Bucky hadn’t expected to be barged in on. Sam is the first to recover and he raises a single dark brown eyebrow.

“When did you two get so close?” he asks, his voice taking on a teasing tone. Bucky sees Eden angle her head to the ground, blushing at getting caught in such a position with Bucky.

“’Bout two weeks ago,” Bucky says. Eden nods her head. “She asked me to teach her how to fight the first time she came here after the two of you left.”

“How good has she gotten?” Steve asks, apparently over his shock. He puts his duffel bag on a bench and walks up to the two, looking over Eden curiously.

“Why don’t we show you?” Bucky says, looking at Eden curiously. Her eyes widen and snap to his.

“What?”


	22. Chapter 22

**Combos and that Left-Hook**

Eden stares into Bucky's blue eyes, her own brown pair wide. He just quirks an eyebrow at her as her heart begins to speed up in nervous embarrassment. She doesn't think she's remotely good enough to show  _Captain-I-am-perfect-at-everything-America_  how she punches.

"C'mon," Bucky mutters under his breath, so low that even  _she_  can barely hear it. If she can barely hear, she knows that Captain America can't hear what he's saying. "Jus' show them a few combos. You're fine."

She stares into his eyes, feeling her own beginning to burn a bit as they begin to lighten. She takes a deep breath and hesitantly nods, shooting a glance at the two other men in the room.

It doesn't help that all of them has been trained in the art of hand-to-hand combat for who knows how long and she's only been working at it for a little over two weeks. She bites her lip, still hesitant about the idea.

Wilson lifts his hands up, making her tense up in instinct for a hit, though he just takes a few steps backward. "Eden is it?" he asks her, continuing after her nod. "The two of you," he gestures between Eden and Bucky, "should act like it's a normal training day."

"Yeah," Cap says, easily hopping onto Sam's train of thought. "Sam and I'll jus' be over there, talkin'. We hadn't originally planned on coming here this early." Her gaze flickers from Bucky to Lt. Gen. Wilson, then to the Captain himself.

She glances at Bucky for permission, her instincts forcing her to turn to her instructor on this, and nods at them after his subtle one. Eden takes in a deep breath. "Okay. It's just our normal training routine. Okay."

Her repetition easily shows her nervousness if her trembling already didn't.

Bucky turns to her and gestures to the bag. She ignores the eyes on her and steps up to the bag, easily sliding into position. She waits for him to circle her, looking for a mistake in her form before nodding at her.

Eden beams up at him, happy that she finally has this position down easily. She barely makes mistakes on this form anymore, but she's always happy to learn that she didn't make a mistake.

Bucky nods to the bag. "You remember what we started a few days ago at the end of each session?" At her nod, he continues. "Go through the few combos, but leave out the left-hook. We'll finish what we started later."

She takes in a nervous breath and bounces around her legs a bit, feeling the gazes of the three men on her. " _Take your nervousness out on the bag,_ " Bucky tells her in Russian. She doesn't bat an eye at the transition, the switch between talking in English and Russian common for them now.

"Punch." She follows the order swiftly, her left fist moving forwards in a quick snapping motion, connecting with the bag in a loud  _smack_. The bag swings back and she steadies it, standing in position again. "Harder."

She does so, this time throwing her left fist outwards and throwing her right fist forwards as she retracts her left hand. Both punches connect with the bag and she does the same 1-2 combo again. And again. And again.

Eden's eyes burn and she knows that they're slowly turning into a bright gold. "Don't forget to add the other combos," Bucky orders her, making her immediately abandon her current 1-2 combo stream and start doing a few other ones.

She can feel Captain America's and Wilson's gaze on her, though she just uses that as leverage to continue punching. Soon enough, Eden's not too nervous to punch and she's beginning to enjoy it as she usually does.

Her body loosens as she jumps around the bag. "Pretend to block and dodge," Bucky orders her strongly. He's still stood beside her, feet shoulder-width apart and hands behind his back.

Eden does as he orders, her heart raising in her adrenaline. She doesn't pant much, though she can feel sweat build on the side of her forehead. As she goes to steady the bag, Bucky slips behind her.

She doesn't tense at his sudden movement, having gotten familiar with him doing so when she goes through combos. She allows him to grip her hip with his right hand and her own fist with his left hand.

Goosebumps raise on her arm at the chill the metal causes. Bucky curls her body around into the position to do the left-hook as he throws her left hand out softly. " _Do you feel how your body moves like this?_ " Bucky asks her, switching to Russian to speak with her.

She nods her head and he does the movement again. Her left foot pivots and her hand connects with the bag. He steps away from her and gestures for her to do the punch again. Eden shifts in nervousness at the Captain's and Wilson's gaze, though does as told.

Her hand connects with the bag with a small  _smack_  and she beams up at Bucky, finally getting the punch down. He smiles at her and gestures towards the bag. "Again. Harder." Eden does as told and her hand connects with the bag again.

"Do the combo I showed you earlier," Bucky orders and she does so. She throws a jab with her left hand, then her right, and pivots her left foot as her left hand flies towards the bag again.

All three punches connect with solid  _smacks_  and she does the combo again without Bucky ordering her to do so. She'd generally repeat the combo three times and then add in a few other ones.

Eden looks at him as she finishes the third round and he gives her a small nod. She punches the bag, throwing in different combos as her chest rises and falls steadily in her increasing movement.

She doesn't hear Cap or Wilson move closer, though she can feel their presence a few feet beside Bucky. Eden throws a strong left-hook, yelping out as her tape breaks, splitting the knuckle on her middle finger in the process.

She steps back from the bag, her hand immediately going to her lips. Her eyes burn at the scent and taste of her blood, and she has a moment of panic, thinking that she's going to shift.

"Are you okay?" Captain America asks, breaking through her panicked thoughts. Her eyes snap to his and she nods her head, removing her hand from her mouth. She licks the blood off her lips.

"The tape broke," Eden says, showing them her hand. She's startled when Bucky steps forwards, grabs her wrist in a gentle, but strong grip and pulls her towards him. She tilts her head in curiosity as he gently removes the cloth from her hand.

He looks over her knuckle and she can already feel it beginning to heal. A frown pulls on Bucky's lips as he looks at her unwrapped hand, no longer seeing the large cut that he saw originally.

He looks up at her and Eden shrugs her shoulders. "I heal fast. It'll bruise after the whole cut closes, but it should be near fully healed by the end of the day." As if to confirm her statement, she gestures towards the small cut that has already stopped bleeding.

Bucky and Cap are still looking at her worriedly, though Wilson seems to accept her statement. "You sure you're fine?" Cap asks her, stepping forward.

"I'm fine, Captain," she says softly. "I've dealt with worse."

"Call me, Steve," Cap replies, making her shrink slightly in sheepishness. She bites her lip and turns to Wilson.

"Sam," he says. She smiles tentatively at them before turning to Bucky curiously.

"We're done with training for the day," Bucky tells her, gesturing towards her hand. "We can run a few laps before going to breakfast." Eden opens her mouth to tell him she's fine but he gives her a stony glare.

Her shoulders slump and her head angles towards the ground in submission. She growls softly in frustration but heads towards the locker rooms to wipe off her hand. "I'll be back in a minute. I expect you to be ready for a challenge, Sargent."

At that, the locker room door slams shut behind her with Sam's laugh following behind her.


	23. Chapter 23

**Talking**

Bucky's eyes watch Eden as she walks into the locker rooms, stunned at the fact that she called him  _Sergeant_.  As if he wasn't a HYDRA experiment and assassin, but just like Sam or Steve.  A retired soldier, of sorts.

He scowls as Sam laughs and begins to unwrap the tape from his right hand.  He rolls it in a ball and tosses it into his bag that lays next to Eden's by the punching bags.  He rolls his eyes as Sam continues laughing.

What he's laughing about, he has no idea.  Though he has a feeling that it's about Eden's teasing challenge for him.  He mentally frowns at the feeling in his stomach as he remembers her calling him Sergeant.

"So..." Steve says, walking up to him.  Bucky gives him a look, knowing what he's going to say, that Steve decides to ignore.  "You two are training together?"  Bucky sighs through his nose, pulling out his hair tie and putting his hair into a tight bun.

"Yes, Steve.  She asked me for a few pointers and it escalated from there."  Bucky sips a bit from his water bottle before throwing it into his bag.  He has a feeling that Eden's going to surprise and challenge him during this little run.

"Nothing more?" Steve mutters as Sam's laughs cool down.  Bucky gives Steve a look and Sam raises his eyebrows.  He rolls his eyes at the two.

"We eat breakfast together, okay?" Bucky sighs, glaring at Sam as he goes to say something.  Sam holds his hands up.

"I wasn't goin' to say something,"  Steve and Bucky give him dull looks, having known the man long enough that he can get as bad as Stark sometimes.  "Okay...  _maybe_  I was going to comment on how close you two were when we snuck up on you.  By the way,  _how_  exactly did we manage that?"

Bucky scowls at the ground, disappointed in himself.  In truth, he doesn't know how they managed to sneak up on him.  He can usually hear them as soon as they open the door, and sometimes before that if they're laughing.

He doesn't particularly appreciate the fact that they somehow got into the room undetected.

He was too focused on the feel of Eden's body close to his.  On how she didn't flinch when he'd slip behind her and guide her into place with his own body.  It felt  _good_  for someone not to be scared at him for once.

"Are you going to accept her challenge?" Steve asks him, most likely knowing that he doesn't want to talk about how they snuck up on him.  He looks up at Steve and tilts his head to the side.

 _I'd be able to see how much stamina she has.  See how quick she is.  It'll help in her training.  I can see how far I can push her to get better results when we start sparring together._ Bucky mentally frowns at his thoughts.   _No, we won't be sparring together.  She's too small and I can hurt her easily._

Aware that the two men are waiting for an answer, he makes his way over to the side of the track near one of the marker lines.  "Why not?" he says, shrugging his shoulders and ignoring the soreness his metal arm causes.

"Do you think she can keep up?" Sam asks, apparently sobering from his amusement for the moment.  "I mean, she  _did_  challenge you.  She has to know how fast you are."

Bucky raises an eyebrow at him, basically saying  _'Why are you asking me?'_   Sam gives him a look.  "C'mon, man.  You've spent the most time with her.  You should know if she seems enhanced from her turning-into-a-wolf crap."

"She's strong.  Stronger than she should be," Bucky mutters, beginning to stretch.  In truth, he doesn't really need to stretch as he doesn't plan on pushing himself too far, but it'll be reckless in case he ends up hurting himself.

"What d'you mean by that, Buck?" Steve asks, standing beside Bucky as he stretches out his legs.  Bucky raises an eyebrow at Steve and nods towards the bags that only him an Steve use.

"She needs those bags, for one."  Sam's eyebrows raise and that seems to say  _'For real?'_   Bucky nods his head at him.  "She also broke the normal bag we were using."  Steve seems confused for a moment before realization dawns on him.

"I thought you said it was like that before you came in here?"  Steve gives him a long hard stare, as if knowing that Bucky obviously lied about the bag.  Bucky just shrugs his shoulders in response.

"She was worried 'bout it," he says as if it's no big deal that he lied to his best friend because a girl he  _barely knows_  was worried about accidentally breaking a punching bag.  "You guys going to join in?"

He stands up from stretching his legs and looks at the two men who he kind of considers friends.  They're the two people he's come to trust after everything that's happened, especially Steve.

He may be a bit iffy around Sam, though if Steve can trust him, he knows he can, too.

Sam and Steve seem to think about the offer.  Sam looks hesitant on joining while Steve looks intrigued.  He hasn't had the chance to run with Bucky much so they can compare their skills.

The two of them exchange looks and shrug their shoulders.  "Why not?" Sam says.  "If she can't keep up, I'll have someone to run with instead of being left in the dust.   _Again._ "  Sam glares at Steve who just grins at him.

Bucky tilts his head to the side, not really knowing what Sam means by  _again_.  He vaguely remembers Steve saying something about meeting Sam on a morning "jog", though nothing really comes to mind.

He suspects that Steve probably ran circles around the man, though, considering the grin Steve has and the scowl Sam has.  He raises an eyebrow but decides to not inquire about it, having a feeling that it'll somehow blow up in an argument between the two.

That or Sam's going to glare at Steve for the rest of the day.

He turns towards the locker rooms as the door squeaks open, watching as Eden walks out, rubbing her hands on her shirt as if to clean them.  His lip quirks up in a little smirk as she looks up at them, freezing in place.

He has a feeling that the word going through her mind is  _'Shit'_.


	24. Chapter 24

**Laps**

Eden walks out of the locker room, her hand clean of any blood.  She finds Steve, Sam, and Bucky standing near one of the lines on a track.  Her steps falter for a moment as she realized that he took her challenge to heart.   _Shit._

She walks over to them sheepishly, standing a few feet away from them and stretching for her run.  She can feel Bucky's eyes on her and she turns her head to the side and catches his eyes.  She raises a questioning eyebrow and he shakes his head.

She stretches her arms over her head, her shoulders sore from all of the punching she's been doing recently.

"So, are you actually going to race him?" Sam says, pointing at Bucky who's started his own stretches.  Eden shrugs her shoulders.  "Because he's fast.  As fast as Cap fast."  She looks at Steve and he nods his head at her.

"I'm just going to run a few laps," Eden says fixing her shorts that rode up a bit.  "If he wants to make it a race, he can."  At that, she starts at a jogging pace.  Within five steps she's running fast, though not as fast as she can.

She picks up Bucky's nearly silent footsteps and her mouth quirks upwards as her pace speeds up a bit.  She's sprinting a good clip when Bucky comes up beside her, not looking like she's struggling at all.

She hears Sam and Steve discuss something as herself and Bucky pass them before the sound of two more pairs of feet join in.  She scowls as Steve comes up beside Bucky on her left and when Sam, though already seeming to be struggling, comes up to the right of Steve.

Bucky sends her a small smirk and speeds up.  She ignores the urge to roll her eyes and increases her pace as well.  Sam falls behind as Steve keeps up with her and Bucky.  Their pace stays steady for a few laps, Steve yelling out "On your left!" every time he passes Sam.

Eden sends Bucky a confused look as they pass Sam again.  He just shakes his head again as if he doesn't understand either.  She just shrugs and picks up her pace.  This is usually much faster than she usually runs and she can feel it in the burn of her legs and the heaving of her chest.

She's not breathing too hard, though sweat is starting to fall down the side of her face.  "You're doing much better than I expected," Steve says, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

She lets out a breathy chuckle.  "Me too," she says.  Bucky chuckles softly to himself as they pass Sam again.

"Oh, c'mon!" he yells out, trying to pick up his pace, but failing miserably.  "How can she even be keeping up with you guys!"  She turns and looks him in the eyes as they pass him again, their pace increasing.

Her eyes are a pure gold color and she can tell Sam's startled by it as his pace falters.  She smiles lightly her herself and speeds up her pace, feeling rejuvenated for some reason.  Her breaths come out in pants, though her pace stays steady.

She can feel Bucky's eyes on her and she turns her head to the side, looking into his eyes.  "Your eyes are gold," he states, mouth dipping down in a frown.  Eden nods her head.

"I know," she says, voice casual.  She sees Bucky and Steve share a glance.

"That normal?" Steve asks, moving in a bit closer to her in what she detects as concern.  She shrugs the best she can as they run a few laps around Sam who's given up and is now draining his and Steve's waters.

"My eyes tend to change if I experience high emotions," she says, her voice sounding a bit breathy by the exertion she's experiencing.  "They flared up earlier when I was punching the bag."

She can tell that he's worried, but they continue running in silence.  "They were gold before you turned," Steve says, concern clear in your voice.  "Are you going to turn?"  His voice is serious with his concern.

Eden tilts her head to the side as they easily complete another lap.  "I don't think so."  Another two laps follow in silence, save for her heavy breathing and Steve and Bucky's small breaths.

"I think we should stop," Bucky says suddenly, drawing Eden and Steve's attention.  "Don't want to risk you turnin'."  Eden frowns a bit and hides her hurt at the statement.  "It hurt last time, that's what I'm worried about," he adds on as if he sensed her hurt.  Maybe he did.

Another few laps with the two looking at her in worry and she slows down her pace and slowly transitions from her sprint to a walk.  Her throat is dry and she heads over to the punching bags where her and Bucky's bottles are located.

She takes a few sips, resisting the urge to drink all of the water in a few gulps.  Her eyes follow Bucky as him and Steve run a few laps.  They don't seem to be tired, though their breathing has picked up and they're sweating quite a bit.

A few more laps, and a silent conversation between Steve and Bucky who's started to race each other, and the two of them slow down to a walk.  Steve heads over to his bag and grabs a hidden bottle that Sam hadn't managed to grab and Bucky heads towards her slightly trembling form.

Bucky frowns at her, though she ignores in favor of drinking some more of her water and stretching out her legs.  They stand in silence next to one another as they drink their waters.  She finishes hers and picks up her gym bag, placing her bottle in it.

Bucky does the same minute later and he turns to her.  "Steve wanted to know if we would like to join him for breakfast."  Eden frowns and tilts her head to the side in contemplation.

"I've never seen him or anyone else in the cafeteria," she says looking at Bucky.  "Where are we eating?"  Eden takes note of Bucky's someone tense form and the downwards twitch of his lip.

"Their kitchen.  Stark's hostin' it.  Said something about 'team bonding'," Bucky says, shrugging at her confused look.  "Steve said something about him wanting us to go.  Don't know why though."

She nods her head cautiously.  "Do you think we should go?" she asks softly, looking to Bucky for his opinion.  He seems shocked that she asked him for his opinion on this instead of just stating whether or not they should go.

Slowly, Bucky nods his head.  "Steve said it might be important if they were asking us to come.  We should probably go."  Eden chews on her lip as the both of them start walking towards the locker rooms.  Sam has already changed and Steve's just walked out of the locker room.

"Only if I sit next to you," she says.  Bucky sends her a raised eyebrow though nods his head.  Eden turns her head to see Steve looking at the two of them curiously.  She tilts her head at Bucky who nods his head at Steve.

"We're goin'."  Steve smiles at Bucky and looks at Eden with a friendly smile.

"We'll see you two in a bit," Sam says, nudging Steve out of the way.  Steve nudges him back and nods at them.  Bucky heads into the locker rooms as she does.

_What have I just agreed to?_


	25. Chapter 25

**Lab**

Bucky stands against the wall, Eden standing beside him.  They've already eaten, but have yet to be informed as to why they were invited to breakfast.  They both had been forced to sit at the table and eat without being able to talk to each other as Eden had been seated by Natasha and Bruce and Bucky had been sat by Steve and Sam.

Everyone is talking about something that he doesn't bother to listen to, hyper-aware of the small body beside him.  He had been surprised when Eden had approached him, muttering something about everything being a bit too overwhelming.

They had somehow moved to the communal area of the area and Bucky just wants to either return back to his apartment, it is his day off, or take out all of his frustrations out on a punching bag.

Except, he can't do that because apparently Tony and Steve need to talk to him about something.  He's just reduced to standing in the shadows of the room, waiting until the two men approach him about what they want to talk about.

He suspects it may have something to do with Eden, however.

"Are you okay?" a soft voice from beside him asks.  Bucky turns his head and looks down at Eden.  Her large brown eyes are staring up at him and he hates the concern he sees in them.   _She shouldn't be concerned for me.  I don't deserve it._

Those thoughts have been more common lately as he thinks that he doesn't deserve any kindness that anyone sends him.  He pushes away the thought and quirks an eyebrow at the small blonde beside him.

Eden fidgets a bit with her sweater sleeves before looking up at him again.  "You're kinda glaring at everyone," she mutters, staring into his blue eyes.  "I'm worried you're going to hulk out at me."

"If he even had a Hulk, that is," a somewhat masculine voice says from in front of them.  Bucky feels amusement as Eden turns towards Bruce, a blush taking over her pale face.  Bucky had seen Bruce come towards them, Tony and Steve in toe, and he suspects that Eden hadn't seen that or else she wouldn't have said that particular joke.

Bruce gives Eden a kind look.  "The three of us wanted to speak with you two," Tony says, taking the lead.  Eden glances up at Bucky at this and he's curious as to why she keeps looking up at him.   _It could be because she's comfortable with you,_  a voice says in the back of his mind.   _She wants to confide in you._

Bucky pushes the thoughts out of his mind with a faint frown.   _No,_  he tells himself.   _That can't be it._

Bucky tilts his head to the side, raising an eyebrow in askance.  He can practically feel Eden's curiosity as she looks at Tony nervously.  "What about?" she asks softly, fidgeting in place.

"You haven't done anything wrong if that's what you're worried about," Steve says, a calm look on his face that makes Eden's shoulders drop in relief.  "We just need to talk to you about your training."

"My training?" Eden asks, head tilted to the side in confusion.  She glances at Bucky out of the corner of her eye, but he just shrugs his shoulders in response.  "What about it?"

Bruce and Tony share a glance.  "Why don't we head down to my lab?" Bruce says, gesturing towards the open doorway.  Eden's face pales and her eyes lighten a fraction in her nervousness.  "Don't worry!" Bruce rushes out, seeing the way her face pales.  "We're not going to do anything that you don't agree with."

 _Not helping,_  Bucky mutters in his mind, noticing the way Eden's beginning to bounce on her feet.  A nervous tick he's just recently learned about when teaching her to do various punches and how to dodge and the like.

Eden nods her head hesitantly, "O-Okay."  Bucky's eyes flicker to her lips as she bites them in her nervousness.  A tick she's had since the very beginning.  He's confused by the spark that shoots through him but ignores it.

"Come along," Tony says.  Bucky waits until Eden's walked in front of him before following after her.  He ignores the urge to slap Tony for the comment as they all enter the elevator, Bruce pushing the button for  _Lab 3_.

The elevator opens with a _ding_ seconds later and Bucky bows his head, gesturing for Eden to walk ahead of him.  " _Thank you_ ," she says under her breath in Russian.  An odd feeling takes a hold of his chest as he knows that those words were spoken just for him.

He blinks the foreign emotion away and follows the rest of the group out.  He fidgets around at the white and shiny interior, unpleasant flickers of memory flashing through his mind.

Bucky looks down at Eden to see her shrunk in on herself, her own dislike of labs shown more through her than himself.  He's so used to hiding his emotions that he doesn't really realize that he's hiding them until Steve points his blank stare out.

Bruce's kind smile falters a bit at their obvious nervousness and dislike of labs.  He ducks his head and leads them into a small conference room, that they have for some reason, and he's happy to see that the room is more warmly dressed with pale green walls and dark brown accents.

Bruce gestures towards the ovular table.  Bucky takes a seat closer to the other wall where he can keep his eye on the open door, as well as Eden who takes a seat right next to him.  He stiffens as she brushes against his left arm, shifting away from her and trying to move it out of the way so she can't touch it again.

No one seems to see this as Tony takes the head of the table, Bruce and Steve on either side of him.  "Here's what we wanted to talk to you about," Tony says, touching his  _Stark Industries_  tablet.  The screen behind him flickers on and Tony moves out o the way.

A video of the gym pops up, Bucky and Eden standing around the red punching bag in the gym.  It's their fifth training day, the day where Eden ended up breaking one of the punching bags for normal people.

There's another video on the screen.  Bucky's eyes flicker towards Eden and she suddenly looks pale.  He looks up at the corner of the screen and he notices how it's dated to last night during the thunderstorm.

The thumbnail of the video of Eden in her bed, a clear view of the thunderstorm from last night from the window beside her bed.  "Why is there a camera in her room?" Steve asks, frowning.  Apparently, he didn't know of this.

Tony shrugs his shoulders at Steve's scorning gaze.  "Don't look at me like that.  It's not like I'm looking at this camera every night trying to creep on her.  It's for protection purposes, Capsicle," Tony says with a roll of his eyes.

Eden's staring at the screen with wide eyes, eyes that are currently beginning to swirl to gold.  She looks at Tony.  "Why are you showing this?" she asks, her voice soft and shaky.

Bruce sighs as he looks at the screen.  "Because we need to talk about what happened last night."  Eden seems to pale further.

"What happened last night?" Steve asks, frowning and looking at Eden.

"She turned."


	26. Chapter 26

**Shifting?**

Eden freezes as everyone’s gaze turns to her. She shrinks down in her chair, the burn in her eyes telling her that her eyes are beginning to turn a golden color. “What do you mean ‘she turned’?” Steve asks, a frown on his lips as he looks over at her.

She ignores his gaze and stares down through the glass table. It’s frosted, so she can’t see through to the dark gray tiled floor. “Last night during the thunderstorm,” Eden says softly, staring down at her hands. “I shifted.”

“I hope you don’t mind if I play this video, Eden,” Bruce says, his voice low and kind. “But, it has to do with why we called you here.” Eden shifts around in her chair nervously, glancing upwards at the screen.

In the thumbnail of the video, she’s curled up on her side in the middle of the bed. A blush rises to her cheeks as she remembers that she only slept in a large t-shirt and a pair of underwear last night.

She’d usually sleep nude in her apartment, but she doesn’t trust anyone at the base, and for good reason considering there’s a camera in her room. She chews on her lower lip, her gaze focused on the screen.

She purses her lips and looks at Bruce. “You can play it,” she says softly, sighing. “But,” her eyes meet Tony’s and they turn hard. “I want that camera removed from my room.”

Tony goes to says something but stops, his eyes shifting from Steve’s scornful look to Bucky’s glare. She supposes that she’s grateful that the two men are standing up for her. Especially Bucky.

Tony rolls his eyes and taps his screen with a muttered huff that sounds suspiciously like  _‘Fine’_  to her. The video of last night covers the screen and begins to play. Eden flinches at the loud rumble of thunder, seeing herself on the screen curl in on herself as well.

The thunder in the background of the video covers most of her whimpers as she moves around in her bed, her body thrashing around slightly. She purses her lips as she moves on the bed as if she were in pain.

She doesn’t remember much of her nightmare, but she knows that she  _did_  feel pain from it. Another crash of thunder and Eden flinches as she sees her shoulder pop out of place.

She screams out in the video, this time audible for everyone in the room. Her other shoulder pops as the bones in her arms begin to snap. At this point in the video, she’s awake and positioned on her knees on the bed.

She sees herself pull at the cloth covering her torso, vaguely remembering the feel of the cloth easily tearing under her claws. She can’t hide the blush as she’s no longer wearing a top on the screen, the only clothing she has being the small pair of gray panties she was wearing last night.

She’s relieved to see that nothing shows on screen as she arches over the bed, her spine becoming prominent. She grimaces as she sees a bloody line down her spine form as the skin on her back splits from her protruding bones.

At this point, she’s nearly silent, save for the whimpers of pain coming through the speakers. Eden risks a glance beside her and shrinks at Bucky’s hard gaze on the screen. His eyes are a dark stormy blue, much darker than how they usually are.

She looks over to see Steve with a hard and pained expression as she screams out in pain sharply. She doesn’t have to look at the screen to know that fur has grown on her body and she’s coughing up blood.

She looks up at the screen with burning eyes, finally seeing herself complete a transition for the first time. She’s never seen herself shift before, and she can’t help but think how terrible it is that HYDRA forced her to do this over and over again.

The screen goes quiet save for the thunder in the background and a low rumbling sound. Eden immediately recognizes it as a growl.  _Her_ growl. She’s completely still as she sees her wolf-self bowed down on the bed, tail tucked between her legs, and her ears pinned against her skull.

Her wolf-self jumps as another crack of thunder booms and she scrambles off the bed, whining in terror. She can remember the terror she felt last night at the loud thunder. Most of it was due to her nightmare, however.

She watches as her wolf-self trembles in the middle of the floor, pinning herself to the ground as another roll of thunder sounds. She can see the panic flashing in her gold eyes and can feel her eyes brighten as the emotions begin to creep on her.

A flash of light outside of light lights up the whole room for a second, showing her dirty-blonde fur before the light disappears and the thunder rolls. Her wolf-self stills at the sound before snarling out and running towards the bed.

The bed’s low to the ground, much too low for her to fit under it when in her wolf form. Somehow, her wolf-self managed to pull herself under the bed. Eden rolls her shoulders, the sting of pain from the bruise she woke up due to being stuck under the bed all night.

A few more seconds and another whine and the video ends. Eden refuses to meet the eyes of anyone in the room as she turns her gaze to her trembling hands. She frowns.  _When did my hands start trembling?_

She jumps as Tony or Bruce, she doesn’t see which one, lets out a deep sigh. “How did you manage to even fit under there?” Tony asks, making her look up at him in confusion.   _Why is he asking me about that when that’s obviously the reason as to why he didn’t call me here?_

Eden tilts her head to the side, her panicked emotions subsiding as confusion takes place. “What?” She furrows her eyebrows as she looks at the rich man. While she may not like him for his snarky comments when she first woke up, she’s trying to tolerate him.

“I mean,” Tony says, enlarging the portion of the screen where you can barely see her long snout peeking out from under the bed. “The wolf you is like what? Four feet tall and a bit larger than you? And the opening under that bed is a little over the foot. How’d you even  _get_  under there let alone  _out_?

Eden looks at Tony with furrowed eyebrows, confused as to why he’s even asking this question.  _Why is he asking me this even though it’s obviously not the reason as to why I’m here?_

“Not without a few bruises,” Eden mutters lowly, knowing that everyone in the room can hear her statement. She rolls her shoulders a bit, having mainly gotten bruises on both of her shoulders from forcing herself under the bed last night.

“I wasn't really  _aware_  of what I was doing. I kinda...” she trails off and glances at Bucky who’s staring at her, a small foreign emotion shining in his eyes. “Blacked out?” Her voice tilts up in question as she thinks about it.

While she didn’t really black out and can think of what happened last night, a lot of the images are hazy. The emotions, however, aren’t so her heart’s beating a bit faster than normal. Bruce nods his head slowly, writing a few things on a clipboard that Eden hadn’t noticed until now.

She tenses up a bit of the sight of it, though knows that Bruce wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. She thinks...

“What exactly was the reason you played the video?” Steve says, leaning forward in his chair, a frown on his face. “I thought we were just going to talk about her training and how strong she’s gotten over the past few weeks.”

Tony sighs and rubs a hand over his beard. “Her shifting  _is_  apart of her training, Steve,” Tony says in a voice that seems tired. Eden stills in her seat, her face beginning to pale at what she’s sure they’re going to ask her.

Tony glances at Bruce who seems a little hesitant. Eden’s muscles tense as Bruce turns to her. “We want to try and get you to shift,” he says, shifting around on his feet. “I have a theory that it may stop you from shifting during the night. That happens a lot, right?”

Eden takes a few deep shuddering breaths, beginning to curl in on herself. Slowly, she nods her head. “Almost every night,” she whispers, not meeting anyone’s gaze. “It’s gotten a lot worse since when I first came here. Why do you think that shifting will help?”

She lifts her eyes slowly to meet Bruce’s. “Well,” Bruce says, playing with the pencil in his hand at her piercing golden gaze. “At night, I’m assuming you’re shifting-is that what you call it?-is from nightmares. It’s against your own will. I think that if you  _make_  yourself shift on purpose that you’ll stop turning in the night.”

Eden sucks in a shuddering breath. “You want me to do  _that_?” she points to the screen that is currently replaying in silence. She stares as she writhes around on the bed in pain. Bruce sighs softly, looking into her eyes with regret.

He sucks in a breath. “Yes."


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: If you didn't read chapter twenty-three, I'd consider re-reading it since I changed it and moved the original chapter twenty-three and the other chapters up a chapter number.

**Training and Shifting Buddies**

Bucky's jaw clenches as he looks over at Eden who's currently shrinking in on herself in the chair next to his. He can see her racing pulse on the side of her throat and her face begins to steadily pale, her eyes completely gold.

Steve clears his throat and leans forward. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asks Bruce, his voice steady and serious. Bucky frowns softly at the slight flash of hurt in Eden's gold eyes.

He clenches his hand at the fear and panic he sees in her eyes. Bruce sighs and looks back at the video. "She said that she's shifted almost every night since being here, right?" Eden nods her head and Bruce continues on. "That's probably because she's not  _controlling_  it herself. When I started turning into the 'other guy', I learned how to not only control my temper but control myself from turning into the Hulk. It could be the same for Eden."

Eden swallows and her eyes trail over to the video again. Bucky breathes through his nose, wondering why he's down here if they're just talking about her shifting. "You want her to shift on a theory?" Steve asks, clenching his jaw as he looks up at the replay of the video.

"I wouldn't know if it'll help until she starts," Bruce says, looking into Eden's eyes. Bucky doesn't like the fear he sees in her eyes. "Are you willing to try it? It might make it hurt less, as well. That helped me."

His eyes flicker to her lip as she chews on it again.  _She's nervous._ "I'll need to think about it," Eden says softly, fidgeting in her chair. Bucky narrows his eyes as Tony frowns. He knows what the man's going to say before he even says it.

"We need you to control your shifting," Tony says, his voice losing all of his humor. "You can either end up hurting yourself or worse, one of us." Bucky scowls at Tony. muscles tense in his anger.

"She hasn't hurt anyone, has she?" Bucky asks in a cold, hard voice. He tilts his head to the side as he stares at Stark who has a small glare on him. "It's only happened in her room  _where no one else is_." He ignores the startled look that Eden sends him.

Tony clenches his jaw. "She hasn't hurt anyone,  _yet_. Who says that she won't wolf-out in the middle of the hallway and start attacking people?" Eden frowns. He can tell that she doesn't like Tony much.

"I only shift when I experience strong emotions," she says softly. Bucky listens to her words but doesn't remove his gaze from Tony's. She sucks in a shuddering breath. "But if it'll help me, I'll get my shifting under control."

Bucky, shocked, looks away from Tony and at Eden. A frown pulls on his lips. " _Don't let them pressure you into it_ ," he tells her softly in Russian, not wanting the others to understand what he's saying.

Eden glances up at him. her golden eyes shining a darker color as they slowly begin to turn to normal. " _I'm not. I want to._ " Bucky frowns and goes to say something else, but is cut off by her strong stare.

He gives a curt nod and ignores Steve's frown at their exchange.  "What does this have to do with me?" he asks Bruce.  Bruce's eyes light up and he seems to smile, thankful that Bucky brought up what he's doing here.

"It has to do with the both of you, actually," Bruce says, looking at Steve.  Steve leans forward and focuses on what Bruce is saying.  "I think it's a good idea that you're training her, though, with her strength, I think that the both of you should get involved when she begins shifting."

Bucky frowns and looks over at Eden, who shrinks further into her chair.  "You want us to intervene if she gets... violent," Steve says slowly, looking at Eden for a quick glance before turning to Bruce and Tony.  "Why just us, though?"

"Well, for one, Capisicle," Tony starts, holding up a finger.  "You're both super soldiers and are stronger than her right now.  Two, she seems comfortable with you," Tony points at Bucky, holding up another finger.  "And three, the two of you heal faster if you get hurt."

Tony's voice is completely serious as he says the last part, glancing at Eden for a split second.  She looks down at her lap as he says this, frowning softly.  Bucky doesn't like the frown on her face, though he doesn't know how to get rid of it.

"We also want her trained in self-defense," Bruce says, looking at Bucky.  "From what I know, you have experience with teaching and her little sessions with you seem to be going fine.  Aside from the part where she broke the one punching bag."

Bucky frowns at Bruce's mention of his  _experience_  in teaching, knowing that it meant that Natasha must have mentioned it.  He didn't miss the glances and lingering touches the two exchange.

Tony taps his tablet and the video taken from the gym pops up.  It begins to play with Bucky showing Eden how to throw a few combos.  He mutters something on screen that is inaudible, though Bucky knows that it's him telling Eden how to keep her arm straight and her elbows out.

She had trouble with that for the first few days until she got into position perfectly almost every time.  Bucky gestures for Eden to stand in position, and she does it.  Like he always does, he walks around her, gently touching her in places to make her position correct.

After a nod, Eden does the first combo.  The bag swings as she punches it, and after every small combo, she steadies it.  A few moments later, and Eden doing a longer combo, her fist rams into the side of the bag.

The chain snaps, making Eden jump back as Bucky quickly stops the bag from falling.  A few seconds go by and the video stops playing.  Bucky glances at Eden, a smirk tilting on his lips as he sees her pale face become pink in her embarrassment.

Again, all gazes are returned to Eden.  Bucky sees everyone give Eden impressed looks and he can't help but be impressed, too.  It  _was_  her fifth day of training, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: If you didn't read chapter twenty-three, I'd consider re-reading it since I changed it and moved the original chapter twenty-three and the other chapters up a chapter number.


	28. Chapter 28

**Needles**

"You are quite the strong little wolf, aren't you?" Tony asks Eden rhetorically as he watches the replay of her breaking the punching bag.  Eden shrinks down, a blush warming her face.

She mutters under her breath and looks over at Bruce.  "When do you want to start my... shifting?"  She has to force the word out of her mouth, her tone full of apprehension and disdain.  She doesn't know if she even  _can_  shift without something prompting her to.

"I was hoping we could start today."  The older man actually has the decency to look regretful and sheepish at his words.  Eden shifts around on her chair, sucking on her lower lip.

"You want me to shift today?" she asks.  _As if asking the question would change the answer._   She lets out a shuddering breath as Bruce nods his head.

"I would like to take notes of your starting place.  Every time you shift, I'll take note of how long it takes to start the shift, how long the shift itself takes, and how much pain it is from a scale of one to ten."  He smiles awkwardly at her as he looks down at this paper.

She nods her head softly as she goes over the information, ignoring the eyes that all men in the room are sending her.  "What exactly would happen if I did get... violent?" she asks softly looking into Bruce's brown eyes again.

He nods to the two super soldiers.  "Hopefully they can hold you down long enough until either you snap out of it or we give you a sedative.  And considering the events the last time you awoke from being given a sedative, I'd rather them just hold you down until you cool off."

Eden gives him a sharp look.  She wasn't given a sedative, she was  _shot_  with tranquilizers, three from what she remembers, and she's pretty sure the graying-haired man knows that.  She softens the look, however, as she knows that he's just saying that to try and comfort her somehow.

She barely knows the man, but she knows that she can trust him.  Especially when they were talking to each other pleasantly during breakfast earlier.

She grimaces at the thought of two of them holding her down, especially with the fact that she can easily tear through their skin with her teeth and claws.  She glances at the two men seated next to her.  "I don't want to hurt you..."

Steve smiles softly at her.  "Don't worry, Eden.  We'll be fine."  Eden doesn't believe him, though decides to ignore the thoughts for now.

"What's going to happen before and after I shift?" she asks Bruce, curious as to what's going to happen during these sessions.  "There's a reason why I barely sleep in anything.  I'll tear through my clothes.  And I'm not comfortable standing in front of you and who knows how many more people completely nude."

She raises an eyebrow at him, hiding a smile as Steve's choked cough and the blush rising in his, and surprisingly Bucky's, cheeks.  Bucky hides it better than Steve, however.

"I can give you some cheap clothes," Tony says offhandedly.  "Most likely a sports bra and shorts since you'll be tearing through everything you'll be wearing."  Her small smile fades at the thought of being that  _vulnerable_  in front of them.  However, she sucks in a breath, swallows past the lump in her throat, and nods her head.

"Am I correct to assume that the two of you, most likely Doctor Banner, will be taking blood samples and will be monitoring my heart rate and other things?" she asks, tilting her head to the side.  She's familiar enough with the routine, though she hopes that they'll gentler than the 'doctors' at HYDRA were.

Bruce lifts an interested and intrigued eyebrow.  He looks over Eden a bit, seeming to assess her before nodding his head.  "You seem familiar with this?" he asks and she can easily hear the pure honest curiosity in his voice, no accusations clouding his tone.

Her lips lift in a dark wry smile.  "HYDRA is very methodical in their testing.  They'll search for anything that'll lead to the strength and other things that I seem to possess."  Her voice is flat as she speaks and she can see Bucky tense up in the corner of her eye.

She has a feeling he's familiar with the process as well.

Bruce smiles sadly at her, understanding dawning in his eyes.  "I hope you don't mind if we gather a few blood samples.  They're mainly to make sure you're healthy and some tests will be run on them to see what's changed in your body."

Eden gives a curt nod, not appreciating the pity she sees in his eyes.  She  _hates_  pity.  The agents in the halls that she passes always look at her with it.  Especially after seeing the prisoner tattoo on her wrist.

"Well, now that that's all covered, let's get started?" Tony says, gesturing towards the open door.  Eden purses her lips but stands.  She waits until the two men have exited the room, with Bucky and Steve still behind her.  She knows that they're too polite to go before her.

She follows the two scientists down the hall, still insanely uncomfortable and intimidated by the white walls and white tiled floors.  They don't have to travel far, however, as they turn right into an open room.

There's a small closed off area to the side of the room with computers and a bed that's usually found in the doctor's office.  The rest of the room is open and plain.  All of the doors are reinforced and she lifts an eyebrow, intrigued as to why they have such a fortified room.

"This is a testing room where everyone gets tested for physicals and other things," Bruce says, having seen her curious and confused look.  "It also supplies as a safe room just in case I turn into the 'other guy' as it's reinforced."

She nods her head.   _I wonder how many times he's become the 'other guy' if they actually had to invest in steel doors._

Bruce gestures for her to follow him and they all follow him towards the side room.  Bruce gives everyone a stern look and they back out of the room, understanding that it's just the patient and doctor beyond that point.

 _Why even bother if the room's see-through?_   She hesitantly lifts herself onto the examination table, scowling at the needles on the tray beside her.  She's not the biggest fan of needles, but then again, who is?

She feels her heart spike as Bruce lifts her arm and can practically feel her face begin to drain of blood.  "So, how are you liking it here?" Bruce asks in a hum.  She looks up at him and away from her arm, confused.

"U-Uhm...  I could do without the constant boredom," she replies in a stutter.  Bruce lifts his eyebrows in a decidedly amused manner before turning his gaze to her arm, wrapping a rubber string around it.

She mutters under her breath as he begins to feel for a vein, her eyes beginning to return to where he's poking.  "We could talk to Tony about giving you your allowance of sorts," Bruce says, drawing her gaze from her arm.  Her eyebrows pull in confusion.

"'Allowance'?" she asks, her confusion clear in her tone of voice.  He hums and she tenses as he grabs the butterfly needle.  He nods his head as he begins to explain.

"Since you can't work, and we all know that you'll need the money at some point, you've been accumulating an allowance over the past three weeks."  Bruce keeps his tone light as he pokes her arm again, removing the tourniquet.  "There's also the fact that you've been providing valuable information to us about HYDRA."

She frowns in confusion before jumping as the needle pushes its way through her arm and vein.  "Ow," she mutters under her breath in instinct, though surprised at the unexpectedness.  It was barely a prick and it only lasted a half a second, unlike the stabbing pain she'd feel with the harsh grip the HYDRA doctors had on her.

"Sorry," Bruce says automatically, beginning to fill up the vials.  She watches with intrigued burning eyes as her blood steadily fills the small tubes.  There's seven in total and she's surprised when only three-quarters of a tube is filled before another tube takes its place.

She looks at Bruce with a confused face as he pulls the needle out and presses a cotton ball to the area.  "Hold this here," Bruce says.  Her fingers replace his, though it's completely unneeded as she can tell the blood flows already stopped.

She just looks at Bruce with that confused look on her face as he checks over the tubes before placing them to the side.  She removes the cotton ball and hands it to him as he turns to her.

"What?" he asks, noticing her puzzled look.  She tilts her head to the side.

"You distracted me and kept my attention away from what you were doing," she says, her voice soft and filled with a foreign emotion.  "Thank you.  No one at HYDRA's ever done that for me.  They'd usually pin me down."

Bruce just gives her a soft smile, most likely forgoing the last part of her statement, that crinkles the corner of his eyes.  "No problem, Eden.  You aren't my first patient who hates needles."  He nods over to Bucky who's leaning against the far wall of the open room, this blank, but brooding look on his face.

Her lips tilt into a smile but it falls as he hands her a bundle of clothes.  She looks down at the clothing with a self-conscious frown.  A hand resting on her arm startles her and causes her to tense up.

She looks at Bruce to see a soft look on his face.  "Your scars are a part of you.  Be proud of them for they will always be with you."  She searches his eyes and gives him a soft smile.

She slides off the table and heads into the attached bathroom that Bruce pointed out.   _Thank you,_  she thinks softly, closing the door behind her.

"Thank you."


	29. Chapter 29

**The Shift**

Bucky's eyes train on Eden as she walks out of the examination room, her arms wrapped around her stomach with a blush on her cheeks.  He looks away from her as his ears heat up, the amount of skin showing seeming improper.

He feels a sharp tug on his lip as he looks at Steve whose face is completely red as he looks away from the girl.   _He never knows how to deal with a dame._   The sudden thought confuses him, for he doesn't know where it came from.

His eyes, against his will, return to Eden.  She's shifting around on her feet with an uneasy look on her face.  She's looking down at her feet and he ignores the urge to look at her from head to toe.

He removes his eyes from her and looks over at Bruce and Tony as her head raises.  A second later he can feel her eyes on him and he ignores the urge to look at her again.

"Tony and I will be in the examination room," Bruce says to Eden.  "Friday will be monitoring your vitals for us, so all we have to do is make sure nothing critical happens.  If we deem it necessary, we'll tranquilize you."  His voice takes on a slight warning tone and he frowns a bit, though shrugs it off.

"Steve and Barnes'll be in here," Tony picks up.  "We'll let them decide when they have to intervene."  From the corner of his eye, he sees Eden give them a shaky nod.  Tony gestures his head to the examination room and Bruce follows afterwards.

Eden just shifts around on her feet, staring downwards as Tony and Bruce fiddle around with a few machines.  "You can go ahead and start now," Tony says into a small microphone.

Bucky can't help but watch as Eden walks to the center of the room.  She takes a few deep breaths before closing her eyes.  He watches her in interest as she shifts around on her feet.  A few minutes go by before she growls out in frustration.

Bucky sees Steve stiffen in the corner of his eye.

She opens her eyes, and looks over to the examination room.  Her eyes are gold, though she doesn't seem to be shifting.  "I can't do it," she says, her voice a growl.  She runs her hand through her hair, pulling at it in frustration.

"What do you usually feel before you shift?" Bruce asks in a calm voice.  Eden frowns and looks down at her feet.

"A heat," she says slowly, her eyebrows furrowing.  "It's like a fire in my stomach.  It'll sit low in my stomach when I'm not 'wolfing-out', but when I feel an overwhelming emotion, like fear, it's like it flares up."

"Okay, good," Bruce says slowly, nodding his head slowly.  "Close your eyes and imagine the fire flaring up.  Can you do that for me?"  Eden does as he says and Bucky can't help but feel like she's a submissive wolf that'll do whatever someone orders her to do.

He doesn't know whether or not HYDRA did that to her or if it is her wolf instincts that maker her like this.

Her eyes close and he sees an immediate shift in her posture.  She's hunched over and her muscles are trembling.  Her breathing's become harsher and her chest is heaving.  She cries out as her leg twists under her and she falls to her knees.

"Are you okay?" Steve asks, worry and concern coating his tone as he takes a step forward, ignoring the indecency of looking at the half-nude girl.  He stops in his place as she lifts a hand, claws beginning to sprout from her fingers.

"'M'fine," she grunts out in a growl.  "Just surprised me."  Her other leg seems to shift just as her hand flies towards her shoulder.  He frowns as her face seems to screw up in pain.  Both of her shoulders dislocate themselves as she bites her lip, a whimper escaping her throat.

Her body heaves forward and her claws dig into the mat covering the ground.  A breathy growl leaves her throat as her back hunches over.  His eyes widen as her spine shifts around and raises.

She whimpers as her skin splits and blood pours down her back.  His eyes flicker around her back.  There are scars  _covering_  it.  Small ones that are barely a centimeter long and long ones that cover her whole side.

Her skin splits in a clean line along her back where a lengthy scar resides.  It runs from between her shoulders to under her shorts.

She cries out again as her legs and arms begin to morph.  Fur begins to grow along her body and a tail rips through her shorts.  The shorts and sports bra becomes taunt against her body as it morphs.

Her stomach sucks in and her chest seems to become larger.  His hands clench into shaking fists as she cries out again, a distinct crack muffled by her skin.  More blood pours from her body and he almost looks away, but he can't.

"Do we need to stop?" Bruce's worried voice echoes throughout the room.  Bucky removes his eyes from Eden to see him and Tony frantically going over a few beeping machines.

"No."  The word sounds like a guttural growl, sharp and barely articulated.  A sharp scream echoes throughout the room, startling everyone as it echoes around them.  Eden's face lengthens and she coughs up blood.

Her body shakes and trembles as fur grows all over her.  She snarls out and bows down, pawing at her head as her ears raise.  Her body stills and a sharp growl escapes her maw.  Her head slowly raises as her legs tremble beneath her.

Bucky stills and his hand moves to his waist on reflex where his knife would usually sit.  Instead, he's only got a few tucked into his boots and up his sleeve.  He watches the wolf warily as she stands tall.

Her eyes are closed and her ears flicker about at the beeping in the room.  Bucky gives Steve a sharp look as he begins to move. Steve ignores it and Bucky narrows his eyes at him, keeping an eye on the wolf in the room.

He doesn't know whether or not it's Eden or if her instincts have taken over her.

Steve takes a step forward, and with startling speed, Eden's head snaps towards him and her golden eyes snap open.  They narrow and her lips begin to curl upwards to reveal sharp teeth.

A low growl escapes her throat as she keeps all of her attention on Steve.  He raises his hands slowly and her whole body flinches.  It's like a flip has been switched and suddenly her body is nearly pinned to the ground, her ears are pinned to her skull, and her tail is tucked between her legs.

She whines softly and takes a step back.  Bucky looks into her eyes and it feels like someone's squeezing his heart in his chest at the emotion he sees.

Fear.


	30. Chapter 30

**Sharp teeth, Sharp claws, and Blonde fur**

Eden whines softly as she looks at the two men in front of her. They seem familiar to her, but her instincts are drowning out her thoughts. She shrinks in on herself and tries to make herself smaller so they weren't hurt her.

They always hurt her.

"Eden," the man with the blonde hair says. Her eyes snap from his hand to his eyes as her ears perk upwards. "You're okay. You're fine." His voice sounds soothing, but she doesn't trust it. They're never nice to her.

She takes another shuffled step backward, freezing in place as her eyes widen in fear. They always hit her when she moved out of turn. Who says that these people won't? " _No one will hurt you_ ," the other man with long brown hair says in a familiar language. Her eyes snap to his and she whines softly.

" _You're safe here._ " She shakes her head but doesn't go to take another step backward. She's already made it worse by growling at them and stepping backward. She doesn't want to get hurt anymore.

The man slowly moves his hands forward, but he makes sure to not lift them too fast or above his waist. Her eyes curiously look over his left hand, a vague memory prodding her pounding head.

_A cold metal hand lightly closes around her wrist in a strong grip. Another one, this one warmer and rougher, rests on her hip. The person connected to the hand moves her body into a position she recognizes as to protect her sides as her hands are rested in front of her shoulders and partially her face._

_"Do you feel the strength?" the man's rough voice asks as he moves her left hand forward. She nods and he does the movement again. The man slides away from her and she recognizes it as the man with brown hair._

She blinks her eyes and raises her head slowly, tilting it to the side in confusion.  _Bucky... Why is that name so familiar?_  She looks over the man with the long dark brown hair dressed in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt.

Her eyes stop on his metal hand and her fur bristles at the memory of it wrapped around her left hand. Not rough like the grips of HYDRA soldiers, but gentle and strong. Not painful.  _Safe,_  her mind tells her.  _This man is safe._ Bucky _is safe._

She breathes in a deep breath, sneezing at the stinging scent of chemicals.  She opens her mouth to better scent the air, bypassing the scent of chemicals.  Her ear flicks at the familiar scent of shoe-polish, how she knows the scent of it, she doesn't know, shaving cream, and leather.   _Bucky,_  her mind tells her.

The scent of charcoal pencils, paper, and coffee makes her gaze flicker to the tall man with blonde hair.   _Captain America,_  her mind tells her.  She shakes her head softly.   _Steve.  He told me to call him Steve._

Eden slowly raises herself from her crouched position, wary of oncoming punishment.  She keeps her head tilted down and her tail is still tucked between her legs, though she stands to her full height.  Her shoulders stop at around two and a half feet while her head and neck make up the rest of the foot and a half.

"Do you know who we are?" Steve asks her, taking a slow step back.  She hesitantly nods her head and she can see the relief in both soldiers as their shoulders drop.  "I'm assuming you can't speak."  Eden gives him a dull look and he chuckles weakly, rubbing the back of his neck.  "I'll take that as a no."  She snorts and looks at Bucky curiously.

He's looking at her with a perplexed look on his face.  Her ears point upward in alert as she knows that the man usually doesn't tend to show any emotions.  She tilts her head to the side and grunts softly.

It sounds more like a squeak.

His lip tilts upwards at that and she pins her ears to her skull in embarrassment.  She growls softly and shifts around.  She turns around swiftly and growls as the door behind her opens.

Her fangs are bared and she's crouched down, but she sits on her haunches as she realizes that it's only Bruce and Tony.  She mutters in apology at Bruce's raised eyebrow.  "What now?" Steve asks as they stop in the center of the room where the torn clothes are.

She bows her head in apology.  Bruce just waves it off and she tenses as she watches his hand move through the air.  She ignores the look he gives her and waits for him to tell her what's going to happen now that she's shifted.

He looks down at a clipboard with glasses that she's never seen him wear before.  "Well, Eden," he starts, fixing his glasses.  "It took you seven minutes and forty-three seconds to start your shift, thirteen minutes and five seconds to completely shift, and now all I have to get is a number from one-to-ten on how painful the process was."

He looks down at her and purses his lips.  "How about you bark a few times?" Tony suggests, making Eden bare her teeth at him.  He holds his hands up in an innocent gesture and this time she doesn't flinch.  "Okay, okay, not funny.  Sheesh."  He rolls his eyes at Steve's scornful gaze.  "Just tap your paw or something."

Eden huffs a breath through her nose, though does as he says.  Her paw makes contact with the mat eight times before she stops.  She blinks slowly at Bruce as he writes down the number.

"Do you need a medic?" Steve asks, eyeing up the blood on the back of her legs, along her spine, around her muzzle, and by her ears.  She just shakes her head, licking the dried blood on the side of her muzzle.

She looks around the room, staring sheepishly at the claw marks she's left by her torn clothing, and the small pool of blood she's coughed up, and stops when she sees a mirror.  The last time she had seen herself she was in HYDRA's hands and she had managed to stay awake throughout the whole painful process.

She barely remembers what she looked like, her vision having been hazy at the time.  All she remembers is blonde fur.  She stares at the mirror, shifting in place, not knowing if she's allowed to see herself or not.

Everyone, having seen her looking at something, turn to look at what she's looking at.  Bruce smiles softly at her and nods towards the mirror.  "You can look at yourself if you want.  I can take your measurements in a bit."

Her body perks up at the prospect of finally being able to see herself properly, though she's unsure.  She glances from his reassuring gaze and back to the mirror a few times before slowly lifting herself off her haunches.

She's crouched as she pads over to the mirror, hiding the wince as her muscles ache.  The movement feels comfortable enough, though she knows that she most likely looks odd doing so.

She freezes as she looks in the mirror.  Her dark golden eyes take in her tall form.  She tilts her head to the side.  She's extremely slender, save for her broad chest, and extremely tall.

Her limbs are thin and long and her neck meets the same criteria.  Eden thinks that she looks more like a maned wolf than an actual wolf with the long limbs and the long fur her on the back of her neck.

Her fur is the same dark blonde shade as her hair and she's sad that the blood on her pelt covers some of her fur.  It's darker at the roots and lighter at the tips, just like her hair is when she's a human.

Her underbelly is a lighter shade of blonde, and so is the underside of her tail, throat, and muzzle.  Her muzzle's shorter than she expected as she can see the tip of her nose clearly.  She shakes her head to get rid of the cross-eyed look she has.

She turns to the side, her thin ears perking up at the sight of her body.  Her chest is huge, while her midriff can't be more than half a foot tall.  Her tail wags softly and she likes the long fur that moves as it sways.

It's curved and a bit short, though she thinks it fits her better than she expected.  She opens her mouth and her lips curl for a full view of her teeth.  Her canines are large and she winces at the vague memory of them digging into a man's arm flashes through her mind.

She growls softly and shakes her head, pawing at the ground.  She sits her on haunches, aware of the eyes on her, and lifts her paw in the air.  She curls it into what may be a fist and is surprised when her claws extend.

 _Cool.  My claws are retractable._   She furrows her eyebrows the best that she can as the urge to dig her claws into something, particularly something with a beating heart, flows through her mind.   _No, I won't hurt anybody._

She stands up and paces in a small circle, the urge to run around growing stronger.   _I feel like such kid,_  she thinks, blinking past the urge.   _Or a pup, I suppose._

"You ready to get those measurements?" Bruce says, causing he head to snap towards him.  She's surprised when she doesn't have to turn her body to look over her shoulder.   _That's new._

Eden's head hangs as she walks over to them.   _Fine,_  she mentally huffs, displeased with the fact that he's ruining her fun.  The embarrassment of looking like a sulking kid doesn't stop her from grumbling softly to herself, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:  Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate.  And happy birthday to Mark Ruffalo (Hulk/Bruce Banner) and Scarlett Johansson ( Black Widow)!


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:  I hope you like this chapter.  I'm trying to make them longer.

**Scratching at the Door**

Bucky rubs his hands over his face as he attempts to even out his breathing.  He lifts himself out of his bed, running his hand through his hair as he sits on the side of his bed.  His legs tremble beneath him as he stands and he ignores the urge to sit back down.

He easily makes his way into the bathroom despite the fact that all of his lights are off.  Bucky doesn't bother to turn on the light as he turns on the cold water.  He cups it in his hands, not worrying about his metal arm as it's waterproof, and splashes the water on his face.

Bucky does this a few times before just holding his hands over his eyes, enjoying the way the cold of his left hand bites into his skin.  It brings his thoughts away from the remnants of his nightmare-no memory-and a shuddering breath leaves him.

Bucky freezes as he hears movement outside his door.  There's some scratching, and despite his state of undress, he grabs a dagger that was hidden behind a painting and swiftly walks towards the door, keeping his steps silent.

He listens to the shuffling outside the door before there's another scratching noise.  There's a slight whine and his tense posture slumps in recognition.  Bucky places his dagger on the small corner table beside him and unlocks his door.

He pulls it open and only has to look down lightly.  He blinks at the sight of a small muzzle and slim pointed ears a foot away from him.  The light flowing through the window at the end of the hallway supplies him enough light to look into Eden's glowing eyes.

She's shrunken in on herself and adverts her gaze from him.   _Submissive,_  his mind tells him.   _She's being submissive.  Why?_

A frown pulls on his lips at her trembling furry form.  "Why're you a wolf?" he mutters, his voice gruff and hoarse from his earlier screaming and his sleepiness.  Eden whines and he just lifts an eyebrow at her.

She nods towards her door and he cautiously follows behind her.  Bucky freezes at the interior of her once nice apartment.  Everything is trashed, stuffing covering the floor from her now torn up sofa and chairs.

Her tables are knocked over and he has no idea how she managed to break the table in half.  They've got large claw marks and what he's pretty sure are teeth marks covering them.

He steps over the wreckage of her living room and follows her down the hall towards what must be her bedroom and bathroom.  He eyes up the claw marks dug into the hardware floor, but doesn't say anything.

She noses the door to her room and Bucky takes a glance at it as well.  Her dresser, night stands, and bed are all over the place and knocked over.  Her sheets and drapes are torn and there's claw marks all over the place.  He glances at the door and whistles softly at damage done to it.

How he didn't notice it before, he doesn't know.  The door's barely hanging from one hinge and there are claw marks all over it.  He glances behind him at Eden who's currently pinned to the floor and trembling.

He frowns.   _Something happened.  Something_  bad _._ He looks back into the room and notices the remnants at what must be her clothing all torn up and thrown everywhere.  He sighs and leans against the door frame.

"You can't stay here tonight," he mutters, gesturing for her to follow him.  Her ears perk up and she cocks her head to the side.  A movement that she usually does when she's either confused or curious about something.  Bucky waits as she hesitantly lifts herself off her feet and steps out of the room before him.  He closes the door to the wrecked apartment, but it doesn't do much as she tore out the doorknob and it can't close properly.

How he didn't hear any of this happening, he doesn't know.  And that really unnerves him.  He's supposed to be aware of everything around him, but somehow he hadn't realized that Eden shifted and ended up trashing her apartment until she came scratching at his door.  Literally.

Bucky turns around when she doesn't enter his apartment.  Her head is tilted downwards and her tail is tucked between her legs.  He's seen her in her wolf shape enough times, seven times to be precise, to know that she's nervous and guilty at her actions.

He sighs.  "Can you shift?" he asks her bluntly.  Her ears perk up and she looks into his eyes.  Bucky looks into her eyes as she thinks about it before she hesitantly nods her head.  While they've managed to get her to shift on her own will, it still takes over ten minutes, they haven't figured out how to get back into her human shape reliably.  It's only happened about once, so Bucky's surprised when she says that she can.

He nods towards his open door and she slowly steps into his apartment.   _She's actin' like she's goin' to break something,_  he notes.  Bucky leads her towards his bedroom and nods towards his bathroom door.

"I'll get you somethin' to put on," he mutters, closing the door for her.  He hears her grunt softly, and a flicker of amusement causes his lip to twitch upwards as it still sounds somewhat like a squeak.

Bucky doesn't say anything about it and grabs a pair of old sweatpants, ones that he received when he first came to the base around a few months ago, and a black long-sleeved shirt.  And after a second thought, he grabs a package of new boxers that she can choose from.

The sweatpants are too tight to wear comfortably as he had been unhealthily thin when he first came here, but he knows that they're going to be a bit too loose on her.  The long sleeved shirt is tight on him, so he thinks that it should fit her comfortably enough.

His breath catches as he hears an inhuman whine come from his bathroom.  Bucky knows that it's painful when she shifts, and he knows that the pain has slowly been lessening, but it doesn't make it any less hard to hear her shift.

"The clothes are on my bed," Bucky mutters through the door.  "I'll be in the living room when you're done."  He doesn't know whether or not she heard him, but he places the clothes on his bed and closes the bedroom door behind him.

On instinct, he grabs two glasses from his cupboards and fills them both with water.  He brings them both out to the living room and he flicks on one of the lamps, sipping his water along the way.  Bucky places the other glass of water on the glass coffee table and sits down on the couch to wait.

Not even two minutes later, the door to his bedroom clicks open and he can hear Eden's shuffling feet.  When she comes into view, her head is angled downward and she's watching her feet.

"I got you some water," he tells her, gesturing towards the coffee table.  Her head snaps upwards and he can see the surprise in her eyes.  Eden's eyes wander down to his chest before she looks away and grabs her water, a blush forming on her face.

Bucky takes the chance to look her over.  He doesn't know why, but he likes the fact that she's wearing his clothes.  Just like he thought, his sweatpants are loose on her and she's had to knot the drawstrings a few times to get them to fit properly.

His shirt lands right above her knees and is loose on her.  Bucky makes sure to keep his gaze away from her breast area as she takes a seat at the other end of the couch.  They sit in awkward silence for a few moments before Eden speaks up.

"I'm sorry that I woke you up," she says softly, staring into his eyes.  Bucky shakes his head and adjusts the way he's sitting.

"You didn't wake me," Bucky says lowly, looking at the water in his glass.  "I was already up."  His right hand clenches around his glass as he feels her concerned eyes on him.  He takes in a deep breath before forcing himself to meet her eyes.  "Why did you shift?"

She chews on her lower lip, shifting around where she sits on his couch.  When he's about to apologize, she answers him.  "Nightmare," she says softly.  She looks over what he's sure is his still pale complexion and wild hair.  "You too?"

It takes him a few seconds, but he nods his head.  They're silent for a few moments as they finish drinking their waters.  After a few moments of silence, he looks over to see her fumbling with the cuffs of her sleeves.

"Do you want to watch somethin'?" Bucky asks her, knowing that neither of them will be able to fall asleep for a while.  Her head pops up and he can see surprise in her brown eyes again.  She goes back to chewing on her lip before she nods her head.

He grabs the remote and turns the TV on, blinking at the sudden light and noise in the room.  He lowers the volume a bit before looking over her with a sheepish half-smile.  "Do you mind choosin'?  I don't really know any movies or anything."  Bucky relaxes when Eden gives him a soft smile and takes the remote from his hand, her fingers brushing against his.

They sit in silence for a few moments as she flickers through the movies available before stopping on a random one.  "I've heard of this one before," Eden mutters, selecting it.  "It's about this kid who finds out he's a wizard on his eleventh birthday and goes to some magical castle school.  I think it was a book before this, though."

He perks an eyebrow but settles down as the movie begins to play with some magical jingle-like song.  The both of them sit in silence as the movie plays through a few scenes.  "HYDRA," Eden says, causing Bucky to look at her quizzically, albeit warily.  "The nightmare that caused me to shift and tear up my room.  It was HYDRA."

Bucky doesn't ask her to elaborate, but he can tell that she's tense about it.  "It's never been this bad before," she says, frowning down at her hands.  "It's the first time I've shifted since we've started.  I thought I had it under control, but then I blacked out...  I woke up in the middle of my living room and that's when I headed straight to you."

Eden looks over at Bucky with wide eyes.  "Thank you, by the way."  Bucky frowns and looks over at her in curiosity, wondering what she's thanking him for.  "For allowing me to stay here tonight and giving me clothes.  You didn't have to, so... Thank you."

He smiles softly at her and shakes his head.  "It's fine, doll," Bucky says, the endearing term easily slipping off his tongue.  He freezes as he realizes what he's said, but she doesn't seem to care.

She ducks her head down and he can see a blush warming her cheeks.  "Let's get back to the movie?"  He smirks at the change of subject but does as she says and turn towards the TV, looking out of her from the corner of his eyes.

"Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:  I hope you liked this chapter.  I'm trying to make them longer.


	32. Chapter 32

**Names**

"Is 'Eden' even your real name?" Bucky suddenly asks.  Eden pulls her gaze from the screen.  She had been scrolling through the movie menu after the first movie ended and had found out that there were seven more movies.  They are on the third one now.

"Hmm?"  She looks into his eyes after pausing the movie, sensing that this may be an important discussion.  He raises an eyebrow at her and she knows that he knows that she heard what he said.

"Is 'Eden' your real name?"  She goes to say something but freezes at the look in his eyes.  They're an intense shade of steel-blue and she feels as if he's staring through her.  She sucks in a harsh breath and chews on her lower lip.

"Look," he says, his tone softening.  "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to.  It was just a question."  Eden purses her lips and swallows, pulling at her sleeves.  After a thought, she raises her head.

"It's what people called me before I was taken," she shrugs.  She ignores the urge to blush as interest sparks in his eyes.  "They said my name was too 'old-fashioned'."  She snorts softly at that.

"What is it, if you don't mind?" he asks her.  She appreciates the fact that he's not prodding for an answer and her lip curls upwards.

"Adeline," she says in a barely audible voice.  She clears her throat and says it again.  The name had been her grandmother's on her mother's side and she cherishes it, despite the fact that a lot of people don't like it.  "It's Adeline.  My mother liked to call me Addy for short."

She looks down at her fingers, furrowing her eyebrows.   _Why did I tell him that?_  she asks herself, her throat closing up.  Her mother had died when she was seven and it had been nearly fourteen years since she's last heard the nickname.

Her breath catches in her throat as he murmurs it under his breath softly, testing it out.  She frowns at the flutters it strikes in her heart and looks at him with wide eyes.  He had turned his head downwards and is wording the name.  He lifts his head up and catches her gaze.

His eyes seem to soften as he looks into her brown ones and she has a feeling that her grief is easily shown there.  "It like it.  'Addy'.  It sounds nice."  His voice is soft as he says the word and she looks down at her lap.

She lifts her head up as a thought strikes her.  "What's your name?  Your first name.  I know that it's not 'Bucky', but I can't remember what it actually is."  Her eyes widen and she blushes at the words that came out of her mouth without any thought.  "Sorry.  It's okay if you don't feel comfortable tellin' me.  I was just-"

"James," his voice cuts her off.  The sound is hoarse and somewhat strangled coming from his mouth and it startles her so much that it causes her jaw to close with a small  _click_.  He clears his throat.  "It's James."

She looks at him.  His head is angled downwards and his eyebrows are pulled forward as if he's confused as to why he told her his name.  "James," she says softly, testing out his name.  She doesn't miss the way his head shoots up as she says it.  "You look like a 'James'."

He raises an eyebrow, easily snapping out of his startled state.  She shrugs at him and fidgets with her sleeves again.  "Can I call you 'James?" she says softly.  She looks up at him and elaborates.  "It feels weird to call you 'Bucky'.  Like it's not my place to call you it."  She just shrugs her shoulders at his curious look.

"If only you allow me to call you 'Addy'," he says after a moment.  Despite the slight pang the name causes her, her lip twitches upwards at the warmth that spreads through her as he says it.  It just sounds...  _right_  coming from him.

"Okay.  You can call me Addy, James," she says, grinning as he smiles at her.  She knows that he doesn't smile much, small smirks or half-smiles seem to be his style, and she likes the fact that allowing him to call her by her mother's nickname for her makes him smile.

They sit in silence for a few moments, neither of them feeling the need to turn the TV on again.  "Addy?" James says, startling her out of her memories about her mother.  She tilts her head to the side and hums softly, her eyes returning to his.

She watches him in curiosity.  His shoulders are hunched and he's got a frown on his face.  His blue eyes are shining in flickers of random emotions and confusion.  He finally lifts his head and looks into her eyes.  "Why did you come to me?"

She blinks at the question in confusion and furrows her eyebrows a bit.  "After you shifted," he elaborates.  "You could've gone to anyone else in the compound, but you came to me.  Why?"

She sucks in a slow steady breath, thinking for a few moments.  In truth, she doesn't really know why she came to him.  At that time, her emotions were all over the place and her instincts still had a hold of most of her mind.  All she was thinking about was finding something safe.  And apparently, she thought of him.

"All I was thinking about after I came from the black-out was finding something safe.  You were the first person I thought of."  Her voice is careful and soft as she talks to him, still somewhat unsure of it herself.  But, deep down, she knows that it's true.  That he's safe.

She doesn't remove her gaze from her hands as she senses his shock.  She jumps when his warm hand stops her from fiddling with the end of her shirt.  Her eyes snap to his and they widen at the emotion she sees there.

There's shock there, but there's also confusion.  "I made you feel... safe?" he says slowly, the words seeming completely foreign and disbelieving on his tongue.  She nods her head slowly.

The words come out without any hesitation as he gives her a confused look.   "You saved me when HYDRA tried to take me and you've been teaching me how to fight, James.  Of course, you make me feel safe."  He still looks confused, though a little less disbelieving.

He looks like he's going to say something else, but after a stern look from her, he doesn't say anything.  She smiles softly at him and picks up the remote and turns on the movie.  "Let's get back to it, shall we?"

They watch the movie in comfortable silence and her exhaustion from a few hours ago causes her eyes to sting and her eyes start to blink slowly.  She stifles a yawn behind her hand and leans against the back of the couch, aware of how close she is to Bucky.

Sometime during the last two movies, they had moved closer to each other, close enough that her knee is touching his thigh.  She yawns again and her head falls to the side slightly as her eyes slide clothes.

She fights to keep them open, but with the warmth coming of off James, they eventually slide close and she falls into unconsciousness.


	33. Chapter 33

**Tea**

Bucky bolts up from his position on the floor.  Last night after Eden, or Addy, had fallen asleep he had moved her to his bed to sleep in and he had slept on the floor in the living room.  He frowns as rushed knocks pound on his door, reminding him of the reason as to why he woke up.  It only takes him a second to reach the door and unlock it.

He scowls as he pulls open the door, but it calms to a frown at the sight in front of him.  Steve's pulling at his hair with worry in his eyes and Sam's inspecting Addy's front door.

"Do you know where Eden is?" Steve asks in a rushed worried voice after realizing that he opened the door.  Bucky rubs his hand over his face and steps back to allow the two men to enter his apartment.

He gestures to his room.  "She's in there," he says, still a bit groggy as he grabs a kettle and pours water in it.  It can't be more than eight in the morning and he and Addy hadn't fallen asleep until about four in the morning.

He ignores Sam's look as he sets the kettle on the stove to boil some water for tea.  He doesn't like coffee as much as Steve does, he's learned.  "Why is she in your room?" Sam asks him with a suspicious look.

Bucky glares at him and gestures to her own apartment.  "She couldn't sleep in there, could she?" he mutters, leaning against the counter.  Steve's still pulling on his hair worriedly and is pacing behind the couch.

"What're you doin' here?" he asks, barely flinching as the kettle begins to scream.  He swiftly turns off the stove and moves the kettle onto a different burner to make it stop screaming.  He pulls out a coffee mug and pours some water into it.  He rummages around in a drawer and grabs a tea bag, takes the cardboard off, and puts it in his mug.

He looks up to see Steve with this odd baffled look on his face and Sam with a raised eyebrow.  "What?"  He blinks at Steve when he doesn't say anything.  "I know you don't want some because you don't like tea, so why're you lookin' at me?"

Steve cracks a small grin at that, and he knows it's because Steve's happy that he remembered that, before looking in the direction of his bedroom with a slightly startled look.  Bucky focuses on the room as he hears some muttering and the shuffling of his blankets.  Addy walks out of the room, rubbing at her eyes and scowling at the floor.

She freezes for a moment before looking up with confusion on her face.  He ignores the urge to smile at her as she walks over to the counter and sits at one of the bar stools.  He gestures to his mug and she leans forward to look at it before humming softly.

He grabs another mug and pours the rest of the boiling water into it and grabs another tea bag.  "Sugar?" he asks.  She hums again and he grabs the small jar of sugar and a spoon, placing them in front of her.

She puts the tea bag in the water and rests her chin on her palm, looking at Sam and Steve with a sleepily raised eyebrow.  He ignores the urge to smile at her.   _I like sleepy Addy_ , he thinks to himself.  He's only seen Addy after she's already dressed and they're on their way to the gym, but he's never seen her right after she's woken up.  He silently thinks it's adorable.

"What are you guys doing here?" she says softly, muffling a yawn behind her hand in the middle of the question.  Apparently, sleepy Addy doesn't have any manners.

"When you guys didn't come down to the gym, we got worried," Steve says, stopping his pacing.  "We waited an hour before we came looking for you."  He sees Addy frown softly as she sits up in her seat.

"We know it's not your usual break day, so we headed over here to see what's up," Sam says.  His eyes flicker towards her room.  "That's when we saw your room and it's safe to say that we were ready to tear the whole compound apart lookin' for ya."

Bucky blinks as he finally takes in their clothes.  They're both wearing t-shirts, Sam in a dark gray one and Steve in his usual white one.  Steve's wearing light gray sweats and Sam's wearing black shorts.

Bucky frowns as Addy shrinks in what he can easily recognize as guilt.  "Sorry, guys," she says softly, looking down into her mug.  "I had a nightmare and tore up my room.  I ended up waking James and he offered for me to stay here.  We didn't fall asleep until four in the morning."

Bucky freezes as she easily calls him James.  He knows that she wasn't thinking when she said it and he knows that he allowed her to call him it, but he didn't expect her to say it so casually.  His eyes flicker to Steve and he can easily read the shock and surprise on his face.  Steve looks at him and he shrugs his shoulders.

"Wait..." Sam says, looking at the room.  " _You_  did all that damage to the room?  I thought you were getting your shifting or whatever under control?"  Bucky scowls at Sam who ignores him.

Addy frowns into her mug and removes the teabag, adding a few scoops of sugar to it.  She stirs the spoon around as she thinks.  "I was-no I  _am_ getting my shifting under control," she says, sitting up straight in her seat, all signs of exhaustion gone from her posture and expression.  "Last night just kinda... overwhelmed me and I blacked out."

The room is quiet as Bucky looks down at his warming tea.  He removes the tea bag as well and grabs Addy's spoon, scooping some sugar into his tea as well.  The only noise in the room is the clinking of the spoon against porcelain until he puts the spoon down.

"I think you need to go on a run.  Let off some steam," Sam says suddenly.  Bucky looks over at him in confusion, everyone else doing the same.

"What do you mean?" Addy says after carefully sipping some of her tea.  "I run almost every day.  And don't forget that I spend an hour or two punching a punching bag six days a week."

"No," Sam says, a glint in his eyes.  Bucky narrows his eyes at him.  "You need to run in your wolf form."  Bucky's eyebrows raise in shock, him having not expected that.

"You want me to run in my wolf body?" Addy says, a frown pulling at her lips.  Despite the frown, Bucky can tell that she likes the idea.  Her back straightened a bit and her eyes turned a brighter color.

"Why not?" Steve says, jumping in.  "You don't black out when you shift on your own and you're usually stuck in the lab without anything to do until you shift back.  Maybe a run will be good for you."  Bucky looks at Addy and he nearly sighs as she looks at him.

 _She does that a lot,_  he realizes.  Addy always looks at him for confirmation on something.  As if she's afraid to decide something for herself.  She's always seeing what his opinion on things is.

"You should do it," he murmurs under his breath.  "I'll be there for you.  It'd be nice to get a run in."  Addy purses her lips before she nods to herself.

"Okay," she says, finishing off her tea.  "I'll go shower and shift."  She places her mug in the sink and heads over to her room since her bathroom was the only thing she managed to not demolish last night.

Sam and Steve watch her leave before turning to Bucky.  "Why was she wearing your clothes?"


	34. Chapter 34

**Prey**

Eden noses her door open, mindful of the clothing she's holding in her maw.  She had left the boxers in her somehow-still-intact hamper as it would be indecent to give the used boxers back.

She steps over the broken furniture, trying to ignore the pang of guilt that strikes at her.  She had generously been given this room and had been helped in controlling the wild side of her, and how does she repay them?  She tears it all apart.

She presses against the door to James' apartment and flicks her ear at the sight in front of her.  Steve's rubbing the back of his neck with a blush rising to his cheeks and James is giving him a smirk that she's become used to in the past few weeks.  Sam's just leaning against the wall with an amused grin on his lips as well.

She sits down growls softly to gain their attention.  Sam's gaze snaps to her and she sees his eyes widen.  While she knows that he knows that she can shift into a wolf, he hasn't actually seen her in her wolf shape before.

"Holy shit..." he says, shock clear in his voice.  "I know you guys said that she can turn into a wolf, but..."  He shakes his head with a disbelieving look on his facing, looking from Steve to Bucky to Eden.

Eden paws at the ground nervously and looks at James.  He's changed into athletic clothes, a pair of sweats and a long sleeve shirt.  She tilts an ear to the side as she realized that Sam's switched his shirt and shorts and Steve's changed his shirt.  Both of them are also dressed in coats and hoodies.  By the scent around them, she can tell that most of the clothes are James'; save for the jackets.

She stands to her full height and slowly trots over to James, lifting her muzzle into the air so he can grab his clothes from her.  He gently grabs the clothes and swiftly heads to his room to put them away.

She turns over to Steve and Sam and cocks her head to the side, once again looking over their state of dress.  The shirt seems a bit too tight for Steve, while it and the sweatpants seem somewhat baggy on Sam.   _Definitely not their clothes._

Her ears perk up as Bucky walks into the room, having changed into a black long-sleeved shirt and some sweats of his own.  Her ear flicks in confusion as she looks at all of their clothes.

"We're going to run outside," Sam explains, having caught her confused gaze.  "I hope your fur's good enough to keep you warm."  Eden just blinks her eyes slowly at him and shakes out her fur coat, easily displaying how long her fur is.

Her head pops up and her ears train on Sam once she realizes what he's said.  Her tail slowly starts to sway until it's full on wagging.   _I get to go outside!?_ Her fur fluffs up in her excitement and she can barely stand still.

Generally, she'd be embarrassed by her kiddish display of emotions, but right now her instincts are at the forefront of her mind and it blocks the emotion from surfacing.  She turns her gaze to the window that sits in front of James' couch.

She trots over to it, her tail wagging as she takes in the snowy wonderland that's shown up overnight.  Yesterday it was all wet from a rain storm, but sometime during last nights events, it had snowed.

She turns her gaze back to the three men, her body trembling in excitement.  Her ears flicker backward at the amused grins on Sam and Steve's faces and the small smirk tugging at James' lip.

She growls softly but turns her gaze back out to the snowy forest.  "You comin'?" she hears Sam's voice ask her.  She trots over to them swiftly as she sees the three men standing in James' doorway.

She follows beside James as Sam and Steve lead the way, talking about something random.  Her thoughts are jumbled with her excitement and overpowering instincts to run so she can barely process anything they are saying.  By the blank look on James' face, she can tell he's having the same problem.

They walk down a few different flights of stairs, with some difficulty on her part which leads to a round of teasing by Sam, until they come to a double door that leads to the outdoor track.  It's one of those standard doors that they would have on fire exits in schools, but much more fortified.

"Okay," Steve starts, turning around so his back is facing the door.  Her ears droop at the seriousness in his tone.  "We need to lay some ground rules.  You need to stay where the three of us can see you and if you start to feel too overwhelmed or cold you have to tell us."  Eden blinks at him and he scowls slightly.  "You know what I mean.  Do you understand?"

She doesn't think twice to nod her head, most of her senses focused on the cool air flowing through the racks in the door.  Steve pushes open the door and she doesn't waste a second to bolt out them and into the cool air.  She freezes, however, before her paws can touch the snow.

She looks back at the three in hesitation.  Steve's face has softened and Sam's smiling softly.  James gives her a nod.  She looks back to the snow and then back at the men.  "Go ahead," Sam says reassuringly.  She knows that he might know a fraction of what she's feeling considering all of the time he spends with veterans.  "One step at a time."

Her gaze goes to Steve and he gives her a grin, nodding his head reassuringly.  Finally, she faces James.  He seems just as frozen by the snow as she is, but he somehow manages to give her a minuscule nod.

She slowly places her right fore-paw into the snow, her fur spiking at the sudden rush of cold.  She shivers before placing her other paw in.  Slowly, her tail begins to wag and she takes a step in the snow.

She blinks down at her legs.  The snow's a few inches high and completely cover her paws.  She lifts her paw before placing it back in the same place.  She perks up and takes a few steps in the snow, trotting around in a circle.

She looks over to the soldiers to see them making their way around the track.  Salt had been placed on it, so it's clear for the most part.  She gives a wolfish grin as Sam gives her a thumbs up from the sidelines before he follows after Steve and James who are already on their third lap.

She watches them run another lap before she crouches down in the snow, her instincts a burning fire in her.  Her tail sways as the two men slowly start to come towards her.  She knows that they've seen her and that they know what she's doing, but she presses herself to the ground anyway.

She slowly stalks forward, her eyes on her target.  She knows that he knows what she's going to do, but he keeps running in the same line.  A few more seconds go past as her target gets closer before she bolts through the air.

She hits her target as she planned, but what she didn't plan was for him to grab her and push her off to the side so she lands away from him.  She gives a soft growl as he pushes off the ground before giving chase.

She takes pleasure in the way the cold and hard ground feels as she digs her claws into it, but she takes greater pleasure chasing in her chosen prey.  The fire within her grows as she growls softly.

James spins around and jumps at her.  The two of them fumble around before he manages to get on top, attempting to pin her down.  She takes advantage of her wolf-shaped legs as she pushes them out, mindful of her claws.

James flies through the air and she sees Steve almost run up to him from the sidelines where he sits with Sam.  The three of them, James, Steve, and herself have spoken somewhat about her being trained in her wolf shape.  They had never taken the advantage to do it, however, as she was constantly being monitored by Tony and Bruce in the lab.

But now that neither seem to be near, they're taking their advantage.  Before James can right himself, she pounces onto him, her claws landing on either side of his face.  Before either of them react, her jaw latches around his throat.


	35. Chapter 35

**A chase through the forest**

Bucky freezes as her teeth press into his throat.  A few seconds go by and he presses his hand against the side of her throat.  She immediately releases him and takes a few steps away from him as he sits up.

He looks to his right to see Sam and Steve frozen in place, concern written all over their faces.  He looks back at Addy to see her frozen in place, crouched down, ears pinned to her skull and eyes wide.  He curses under his breath in Russian at the pure fear he sees in her eyes.

Her whole body is trembling and he slowly stands up as Steve and Sam run over to them.  He lifts his right hand to his throat though he doesn't feel anything on it.  He looks down at her as she takes a few steps back and whines softly.

He slowly lifts his hands up to show her that he's no harm and her whole body tenses up as she takes another step backward.  "Addy..." he says softly in a warning tone.  Her eyes are clouded over, though the cloudiness lessens as her eyes snap to his.  "It's fine, you didn't hurt me.  It's fine."

He goes to take a step forward, but her eyes focus on something behind him and she bolts.  He takes a glance behind him to see Sam and Steve before he sprints after the wolf-shaped bullet, cursing them out in his mind.

He hears Steve follow after him.  "I'm going to get someone!" Sam shouts, heading towards the double doors.  "Try not to corner her.  It'll only make her panic more."  Bucky nods his head as he follows after her, but he curses under his breath as she makes it to the chain-link fence that fences off the entrance to the forest.

She bounds over it easily without faltering a step.  He gauges the height of the fence before looking for an easier way over it.  "Are you going to try and jump over it?" Steve says from fight beside him.  He nods his head determinedly.  "I'll give you a boost."  He sprints ahead of him and lands down his knees, his hands held out.

He sprints faster and his right foot is caught in Steve's hands.  Steve pushes upwards and he goes flying over the fence.  He lands with his knees bent before looking over to Steve.  "Go!" he shouts running along the fence.  "I'll find another way.  We can't lose her."

He gives one last glance as Steve before he sprints into the forest.  His curses as his running shoes get caught in a few areas but continues following after her tracks, him no longer able to see her.

He keeps tabs on everything around him to listen to her, slowing down in favor of keeping his position hidden from her.  He can feel his HYDRA and military training kicking in as he gazes around the forest.

His instincts urge him to reach for his gun, but he shrugs them off.  It's the Winter Soldier instincts urging him to do that, but he doesn't have his gun on him and he doesn't plan on killing his target.  Just apprehend her.

He almost calls out to her, but his head snaps to the side as he hears a dull crack echo in the distance.  His mind easily calculates the distance and he sprints over to the direction as quietly as possible.  He can hear Sam and Steve call in the distance and he nearly calls out for them to shut up and that them calling for her is not going to work.

He barely hears a muffled cry of pain and his head whips to the left of him.  He cautiously steps forward, reaching into his shoe for his knife.  He winces as he hears the familiar sound of bones breaking and he stares wide eyes as Addy begins to transform back into her human shape.

He shoves his knife back into his shoe and immediately shrugs off his hoodie, not paying mind to the chill in the air as he's wearing only a t-shirt.  Addy cries out again, this time slightly louder as her fur begins to retract.

He watches, transfixed, as the wolf becomes human again.  She had always shifted back into her human form in the bathroom due to the fact that she'd be naked, so this whole display is new to him.  He winces as she cries out again and holds her arms to her chest.

She's on her knees, panting out heavily and whining softly.  "Addy," he says softly, taking a cautious step forward and trying not to look at her.  He stops when he sees her eyes.  They're filled with fear, but they're also heavy-lidded.

She's panting softly and her body begins to sway.  He rushes forward and takes her into his arms as she begins to slump to the side.  "Lift your arms," he instructs her, trying not to look at her chest.  She does as he says, albeit slowly and tiredly, and he pulls his hoodie over her.

He pulls her up with him and she leans into his side.  His hoodie land right above her knees and the sleeves hang far over her hands.  He pulls her to his side as she shivers.  She leans further into him and he lifts her into his arms.

She curls into his chest and her eyes begin to fall.  "Addy," he says softly, making her eyes blink open.  "It's okay.  You're okay.  Just stay awake."  A frown pulls at her lips and her eyes blink up sleepily at him.

"So... tired," she mutters softly.  "It hurts."  She whimpers softly and he pulls her to his chest, running in the direction of Sam and Steve's calls.   _Shit,_  he thinks, picking up pace as she slumps in his arms.

"I found her!" he calls out.  He sees Sam and Steve running at him and he heads in the direction of the base as they come close to him.  "I found her shifting and she just passed out."

Sam and Steve glance at her worriedly.  "Do you think she's going to be okay?" he asks them, looking down at her small form curled against his chest.  He looks over to Steve as they head into the gate door and across the track.

"I don't know, Buck," Steve says, glancing down at her.  "Do you know what could have happened after she freaked out and left?"  Bucky purses his lips and shakes his head.

"Do you think this had something to do with us sparring?" he asks, glancing down at her as they walk down the halls.  He sees Sam shrug out of the corner of his eyes.

"You said that her instincts take over sometimes, right?" Sam asks, looking at Addy in his arms as they step into the elevator.  Bucky nods his head.  Steve presses the button for the third floor and Bucky lifts an eyebrow, wondering why they're not going down to the lab.

"Bruce and Tony said that they'll check her out in your place," Sam supplies before continuing on from where he left off.  "Her instincts may have taken over and she freaked out after she pinned you and realized what she was doing.  It's just a theory, though."  He shrugs as the elevator door opens.

"We'll have to ask her when she wakes up."


	36. Chapter 36

**Reassurances**

Eden rolls over, tugging the large comforter closer to her chest as she curls up in a ball.  Her head tips down and her nose brushes against the blanket as she breathes in a deep breath.  She mumbles softly in confusion as she sifts through the familiar scents before her whole body tenses.

Her eyes snap open and she sits in the bed, looking around her wildly.  Her eyes are immediately drawn to the mass in the corner of the room curled up in a way too small armchair.

She blinks sleepily at James.  His shoulders are slumped forward and his head is resting on his left hand.   _At least he doesn't have to worry about the pain in his wrist after sitting in that position for so long._

Both of his feet are planted on the ground and it doesn't look like he changed since earlier today.  She blinks slowly, looking over to the window.  The sky's dark, but she can't help if it's day or night and the clock on the nightstand isn't helpful at all.   _Was it even earlier today?_

James shifts around on the chair and lifts his head up, his hair hanging over his face and partially blocking his view of her.  He blinks at her for a second before his slumped posture immediately straightens.

Eden flinches at the quick movement and she moves backward in panic as he stands up and takes a step towards her.  Her eyes are wide and her breathing picks up as he gets closer to her.  He stops and his eyes roam over her.  She can see confusion and hurt in their icy depths.

He stays standing at the end of the bed for a few moments as she trembles in fear.  Eden's not afraid of him, of course, she isn't.  She's afraid of  _herself_.  She wouldn't like to admit it but her instincts did take over when she was outside.

She didn't black out and she could feel what was happening, but her mind didn't process it as if she were a human.  Just pure instinct.  Her mind was foggy and before she knew it, she was standing over James with his throat in her jaws.

She had felt his steady pulse and she could hear the constant rhythmic  _thud_  of his heart.  She had almost bit down harder before his scent registered in her mind.  Shoe-polish, leather, and shaving cream.

When his hand came in contact with her throat, she had panicked.  She had thought that he was going to hurt her for taking the little sparring match too far, so she had sprung away from him.  When he had called out to her using the nickname only her mother had called her, she had run.

Mainly because she was terrified of hurting anyone further and because of the emotion she heard in his voice.  He seemed almost... heartbroken.  His own eyes had some panic in them and despite not seeing pain in them, she had to get away from him.  She didn't want to hurt him or anyone else more than she already had.

She whimpers softly and presses her back to the headboard on his bed.  His eyes darken in what seems to be sadness and hurt and she nearly reaches out to him, but she doesn't.  She's afraid that her instincts will take over and that she'd hurt him.  Again.

He slowly takes another step forward and she flinches against the wood behind her.  "No!" she shouts in a cracked yelp, pulling her knees to her chest.  "Don't come any closer!"  She whimpers softly and holds her arms to her chest.

He slowly lifts his hands upwards and she tenses, her eyes clenching shut.  She holds her breath as she trembles, awaiting the pain.  She jumps and her eyes snap open when he sits down and rests his hand on her knee.

She tries to pull away from him, but he holds her knee in a tight grip and gives her a stern look.  She freezes at the look, a shuddering breath leaving her.  He just stares into her eyes, his hand resting gently on her knee.

She averts her eyes and turns her head away from him, instinctually baring her throat to her superior.  A sharp breath of air leaves her as the cold metal of his right hand grabs her chin gently.  "Addy," he says softly, her name rolling off his tongue in a rough whisper.  She flinches at the tenderness she hears and clenches her eyes shut, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Look at me, doll," he says, his voice sounding like a broken whisper.  She trembles and a low whimper leaves her throat.  She goes to shake her head, but his hand holds her chin in a tight, but gentle grip.  "Please, doll?"

She manages to pull her eyes open at the desperation she hears in his voice.  She keeps her eyes away from his and he tilts her head upward by her chin and her eyes meet his.  She freezes, her eyes wide as she looks into his.  She nearly whimpers again at the pain she sees in their dark depths.

"You're okay, doll," James says in a soft whisper, moving his hand up and moving his thumb across her cheek.  "No one's mad.  No one's gonna hurt you."  She frowns softly and shakes her head, her eyebrows furrowing.

"That's not what I'm afraid of," she says in a whisper, her voice cracking in a few places.  James frowns as well and he removes his hand from her face.  She nearly whimpers at the loss of contact before he pulls himself onto the bed properly and pulls her into a hug.

She freezes as his chin rests on her shoulder, her posture becoming tense and he wraps his arms around her.  "Then what are you afraid of, doll?" he says into her ear, making her shiver as his breath brushes across her skin.

She pulls away from him and looks down, forcing down the blush in her cheeks.  "I'm..." her voice wobbles slightly and her body trembles as she pulls his blanket to her chest.  "I don't want to hurt anyone."

He's grabbing her hand again and she looks into his eyes.  They're full of seriousness.  "You didn't hurt me," he says.  Apparently, he can read between the lines.  "Nor did you hurt anyone else, you got that doll?"  When Eden doesn't respond or look at him, James grabs her chin again and looks into her eyes.  "You  _didn't_  hurt anyone and you never will.  Okay, doll?"

Eden goes to protest, but at his stern glare, she nods her head.  "Okay," she says softly, tugging on the sleeves of her hoodie.  She freezes and looks down at herself, blinking at the hoodie smothered in James' scent.

Her eyes widen and a blush lights on her cheeks as she looks up at him sharply.  It looks like he knows where her train of thought went by the pinkness in his ears.  "I promise I didn't look," he says gruffly, clearing his throat and averting his gaze from her.

"Oh," she says softly, snuggling into the hoodie.  "I believe you."


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:  Sorry that it's a bit short!  Also, I'd just like to say thank you for all of your support.  Also, this book is going to end soon and a second installment will follow afterward.

**Defense and Awkwardness**

Bucky continues to stare at Addy, messing up his hair at the embarrassment of the fact that she is in his bed with nothing but his hoodie on.  He vaguely remembers that he liked to watch dames walk around his room in his button-downs after they fooled around.  It was in his own small apartment, of course, as his mother would have whooped him for playing around when he didn't intend on courting the woman seriously.

He mentally frowns and gives himself a shake.   _Addy's not like those girls.  She means something to me.  I wouldn't do anything like that to her._   He silently eyes up the sight of her messy blonde hair and how his hoodie swamps her and can't help but like the sight of her in his clothes.   _I suppose those thoughts haven't left me,_  he mentally grumbles to himself, standing up from the beds and clearing his throat.

Addy's fidgeting with the hoodie and he takes a moment to feel guilty about thinking her in that way.  "Stark, Banner, Steve, and Sam want to talk to you," he says gruffly, watching her stiffen in place.  Her brown eyes, which are slowly turning gold, snap to his and he nearly ducks his head in guilt.  "They want to go over what happened.  Your apartment's also been fixed."

"Do...  Do I have to?" she says, looking up at him with her large eyes.  He mentally swears at the look, guilt further overwhelming.  He quirks a small sad smile.

"'M'sorry, doll," he says, guilt apparent in his tone.  "They want to go over what happened while it's fresh."  As her shoulders slump and her trembling begins to resurface, he is quick add onto the statement.  "I'll try to get them to hold off for a bit, and in the meantime, shower.  I'll get you somethin' to wear."  Bucky gives her a reassuring smile and walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.

He pulls at his hair as he walks into the living room.  Stark and Banner are leaning over his counter talking about some things while Steve and Sam are leaning against the wall and muttering to themselves about something.  Steve looks up at him as he steps into the room and it draws Sam's attention.

"She awake?" Sam asks needlessly, knowing that's the reason he came out of the room.  He's been in the room for the past few hours and he has no idea why everyone's decided to camp in his apartment until Addy wakes up.

"Yeah," he sighs, removing his hand from his hair.  He leans against the wall and looks at the men in the room.  "She's showering and she needs some clothes."  Steve blinks at him before his face begins to redden and Sam snickers.

"You were supposed to get her out here after she woke up so we could ask her what the hell happened earlier," Tony says shortly, crossing his arms over his chest as he turns to him.  He stiffens and ignores the urge to scowl at the man.

"She's terrified as it is," he bites out, straightening out from his leaning position against the wall.  "Being stuck in a room full of people questioning her isn't gonna blow over well.  You want her to shift from the nerves?"  He can feel the shock in the room.  He's never talked so openly or as much before and it's a drastic difference to see him acting like this.

Bruce nods his head.  "That was a good idea, get her to calm down a bit before coming out," Bruce says.  Bucky nods at the doctor. grateful that at least one person is on his side.  "You said she was terrified?"  Bruce tilts his head to the side in curiosity.

Bucky growls under his breath in Russian before nodding his head.  "She freaked out when I saw she was awake and I approached her.  I'm familiar enough with guilt and fear to know that she's feeling those emotions."  He clenches his jaw as he finishes the statement, ignoring the burning feeling of Steve looking at him.

Tony clenches his jaw and gives a curt nod.  He gestures to his coffee table and Bucky raises his eyebrow and walks over to the pile of clothes sitting there.  He doesn't dare to look through them should there be a pair of feminine undergarments.

He turns his head back to his room as the water shuts off.  He promptly turns around and heads into the room, ignoring the gazes of the three men on him.  He opens his bedroom door and gives a hesitant knock on the bathroom door after a moment.

"Addy?" he says softly so no one in the apartment, save for Friday and the girl in question can hear him.  "I have clothes."  He waits a moment as Addy moves around in the bathroom and takes a step backward as the lock clicks.

She pulls the door open and his face immediately flames as he looks at his boot-clad feet.  Despite no longer looking at her, the image of her draped in one of his large black towels is etched in his mind.  As is the sight of her shoulders, chest, and collarbone with beads of water.  He clears his throat and holds out the bundle of clothes.  "Sorry," he mutters softly as she grabs them.

He looks up at her as she takes them from him but doesn't close the door.  He tries to keep his eyes on hers but he can't help it as they begin to trail over her form.  After a second, and a heavy swallow, his eyes return to hers.  He nearly growls at the sight of her golden eyes as she looks at him.

"Thank you," she says softly, clutching the clothes to her chest.  He gives her a shaky nod and avoids looking at her.  An awkward moment goes by before she takes a step back and closes the door.  He lets out a low breath and takes a few steps backward and sits on his bed.

His elbows rest on his knees and his head rests in his hands.  The cold of his metal prosthetic grounds him.   _What is this dame doing to me?_


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You gotta read the Author's Note.

**'Til the end of the line**

Eden walks out of the bathroom almost sheepishly, tucking a few tangled hairs behind her ear.  She tugs at the sweater that seems to cling to her body and she has a feeling that it's Natasha's.  She has gotten to know Russian red-head during some of her shifting training.  

There were also days where James couldn't train her, so Natasha did instead after seeing her running laps in the gym with no one else around.  She has yet, however, to use the particular Black Widow-esque moves on James when they practice spar, something that is also new.  Her cheeks warm at the thought of her thighs wrapping around his head.

James stands from his bed as she takes a few steps out, his cold eyes trailing over her form.  She ignores the urge to fidget.  The clothes themselves do not show off a lot of skin, most of her body is covered from head to toe, but they show so much of the shape of her body that it could- _and probably would,_ she reminds herself-make Captain America turn into a cheery.

James clears his throat after his eyes turn towards hers and he gestures towards the door.  Her lower lip rolls between her teeth and she can see James' eyes on her like they always are.  She's come to learn that he's always watching her.

She looks into his eyes and she can feel panic strike her.  She clutches at her chest with both of her arms, her eyes open wide as she stares at the man she's come to trust.   _Trust is a strong word,_  her mind, tells her.  But her instincts trust him and she can't help but trust him, too.

" _Are you okay,_  doll?" he murmurs in Russian, stepping towards her.  She tenses as he comes into arm's length of her, expecting her instincts to rage at her to take his throat between her jaws again.  She blinks but doesn't relax, as her instincts are as calm as ever.  They're just fire embers at this point, unlike the raging flame that was in her earlier.

She sucks in a shuddering breath and looks down at her feet.   _Am I okay?_  she asks herself.  She closes her eyes and lets herself relax as she checks over her own body.  Her pulse is racing and her legs are trembling beneath her, she can feel a migraine coming on and she's a bit of angst from her recent shift.  While the aggravating emotions after her shifting has calmed a bit, they have not fully left her.

And not that she's nearly almost killed James, one of the only people she trusts, and now she's forced into a room filled with people she can easily kill... the emotions are slowly beginning to overwhelm her.  Her eyebrows furrow as a newer memory comes to mind.

_"Close your eyes," a rough deep voice murmurs in her ear.  She nearly shivers at the warm breath on her skin but does as instructed.  She's stood in the middle of a private gym, of which she's only recently come to learn of, with only James with her._

_She's just shifted again.  It's her fifth training session in the lab and she had stormed out of there not only an hour ago.  It was the first time she had to force herself back into her human form and she was so aggravated that she snarled at Bruce who was trying to get her vitals.  And while saw that he didn't bat an eye at it, it left her completely terrified._

_It had drawn her into a memory when the last time she snarled at a scientist was.  She hadn't wasted a second to bolt from the room, having to nearly break one of the doors.  She had run up the stairs, uncaring of where she was going and ran into a random room._

_James had followed after her and that's where she was now.  "Good," he comments as she begins to relax, her eyes shut close.  "Listen to my voice."  She nearly snorts, but she listens to him._

_"Do you know who you are?" he asks her, testing her.  She doesn't even think of the fact that he may be looking for some answers._

_"Adeline," she says softly, leaning back into his arms.  "My name is Adeline Cohen."  He gives an affirmative grunt and his arms begin to constrict around her in a tight hug.  She doesn't feel chained up in his arms, so she leans back into them._

_"Good, Addy," he says reassuringly into her ear.  "Are you okay, doll?"_

She shakes her head and blinks, the memory fading away.  She looks up at James in confusion for a moment, blinking her eyes.  She thinks it over for a few moments before nodding her head.  She sucks in a slow deep breath.

"I'm fine, Sergeant," she says softly, her voice a little breathy.  She's chewing on her lip again as she looks up into his concerned storm-like eyes.  She gives him a weak smile.  "Thank you.  I'll be fine."  She thinks it over for a few seconds before she nods to the door.  "Let's not keep them waiting."

She walks towards the door hesitantly, shifting away from him as his left hand reaches out to rest itself on her lower back.   _He does that a lot,_  she thinks to herself, ducking her head down as she pads into the hallway.  She can't help but like the old-fashioned way James moves sometimes. even if it's completely instinctual.

She freezes for a moment as all talking in the living room and kitchen.  She looks over to James and he gives her a soft smile and a nod.   _'You're gonna be okay, doll,'_  she can practically hear.  She gives him a soft smile and looks into his eyes, having no doubt that those are the words he's currently thinking.

She takes a deep breath and nods to herself.  " _Okay_ ," she mutters to herself.   " _You can do this_."

_**This is just the beginning** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: I know it's not a lot, but this is the beginning to an end. This is the end of the first installment to this "series", I suppose. Don't worry, I plan on writing the next part soon, but I will be taking a few days break.
> 
> I can believe I finally finished something. And in thirty days, too! Well... I suppose that that was actually the point as NaNoWriMo is finally over.
> 
> For those who have supported this story throughout the last month, thank you so much! I also apologize that this is short. It was much shorter than I thought it was gonna be, so... sorry?
> 
> Until next time.


	39. Chapter 39

**Hello, Everyone**

As I am writing this, I am currently working on the first chapter for the second book of this fanifc.  As you can see above, this fanfic is now a part of a series.  The  _Shadows_ series.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next installment.  The first chapter should be up within the next few hours!


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